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SEVENTH EDITION, THOROUGHLY REVISED AND ENLARGED 





^# GH!l)BI\ID6B-ffl7K5. @^ 
I MOSES KING ^»BUBLiI5tiEg 




Copyright 1878, 1879, 1881, 1883, and 18S5, by MosES Ki>.-G. 



KING'S DICTIONARY OF BOSTON. By Edwin M. Bacon. An elaborate history and descrip- 
tion of the city= Arranged alphabetically. It has 1,500 interesting paragraphs, in 530 solidly 
packed pages. It is the most useful local book ever published. Clolh, with gilt top, $1.00; 
flexible clolh, 75 cents; paper, 50 cents. 

KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. A comprehensive detailed description of Boston, classified 
by subjects. Handsomely printed and profusely illustrated. 350 pp. 200 illustrations. Cloth, 
$1.00. 

KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON HARBOR. By M. F. Sweetser. 300 handsome pages. 
200 original illustrations. The most entertaining handbook ever published in America. Cloth, 
uniform with " King's Handbook of Boston," $1.00. 

KING'S HANDBOOK OF CAMBRIDGE, MASS. A popular history of this old city, famous 
for its university, its history, its beauty, and its industries. 400 pp. 150 illustrations, including 
many portraits. Cloth, $2.50. 

KING'S HANDBOOK OF SPRINGFIELD, MASS. Similar in size, style, and scope, with King's 
Handbook of Boston. 400 pp. 175 illustrations. Cloth, $2.00 

KING'S POCKETBOOK OF PROVIDENCE, R.I. An alphabetical guide. 400 paragraphs 
128 pp. Subscription edition, large paper, fine printing, and exquisite binding, $1.00. 

THE BACK-BAY DISTRICT AND THE VENDOME. A profusely illustrated pamphlet, 32 pp., 
describing Boston's " Back-Bay District" and the Hotel Vendome. 25 cents. 

VEST-POCKET MAP OF BOSTON. A neat map of Boston proper, bound in red leather, small 
enough to put into a lady's pocketbook. 15 cents. 

WALTHAM, PAST AND PRESENT. By Charles A. Nelson, A.M. An historical and a de- 
scriptive sketch from the earliest times 55 clear photographic illustrations. 152 pp. Cloth, 

$2.50. 

MOUNT-AUBURN CEMETERY. 100 pp. 30 illustrations. Paper, 30 cents. 

THE CAMBRIDGE HIGH SCHOOL. By Elbridgr Smith, former head master, and William F, 
Bradbury, present head master. This is a comprehensive history and description of the school 
from its beginning. It is supplemented by an exhaustive catalogue of graduates and teachers. 
Illustrated. Cloth, $1.00. 

THE BOSTON PUBLIC LATIN SCHOOL. By Rev. Henry F. Jenks. An illustrated 
historical sketch. 32 pp. Pamphlet. 25 cents. 

HARVARD AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. By Moses King. An historical and descriptive 
guide to all departments of Harvard University and Cambridge. 70 illustrations. 120 pp. 
Cloth, $1.50; paper, $1.00. 

WORCESTER VEST-POCKET GUIDE. A miniature guide-book to Worcester, Mass Text 
alphabetically arranged. 96 small pp. Paper, 15 cents. 

CAMBRIDGE VEST-POCKET GUIDE. This book is so small and so thin that it can be easily 
carried in a small pocketbook, although it gives a pretty full description of the city. 128 pp. 
Paper, 10 cents. 

BOSTON: WHAT TO SEE, AND HOW TO SEE IT. A route-guide to Boston. Starling 
always from one point, the stranger is here guided to every thing worthy of seeing on a short and 
rapid visit. 128 pp. Paper, 10 cents. 

CHURCHES OF BOSTON AND VICINITY. By 20 pastors. This is a collection of twenty 
historical sketches of the famous churches in and around Boston There are 20 superb photo- 
graphic views. The book is a massive volume, and is a beautiful specimen of typography. Sold 
only by subscription. Cloth, $10.00. 



The above hooks can he bought of any American or foreign bookseller, or ihey ivill 
be sent to any address, postpaid, on receipt of price. 



MOSES KING PUBLISHER, 

CAMBRIDGE, MASS. 



< 



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\ 



PREFACE TO THE SEVENTH EDITION. 



It had been the intention of the publisher of " King's Handbook of 
Boston" to bring out a new edition of it every year, about the first day 
of June ; but the pressure of other duties has made this impossible. 
Each successive edition, however, has been thoroughly revised and con- 
siderably improved, and the last edition is like the first mainly in its 
general appearance ; for so many changes, omissions, and additions have 
been made, that this edition is practically a new book. 

The various editions have undergone thorough revisions by Edwin 
M. Bacon, the author of " King's Dictionary of Boston," and by ^I. F. 
Sweetser, the author of " King's Handbook of Boston Harbor." Many 
of the good qualities of the book are due to their prolific knowledge 
and their peculiar versatility. It must also be remembered, that, in pre- 
paring and revising the several editions, the publisher has been indebted 
to many persons, too numerous to mention here. Of these, however, 
special thanks must be expressed to Mr. Bacon, mentioned above ; 
Dr. Samuel A. Green, formerly mayor of Boston ; John Ward Dean, the 
librarian of the New- England Historic Genealogical Society; William 
Howe Downes, a well-known Boston journalist ; and to the hundreds of 
persons who kindly furnished the sketches of the institutions and asso- 
ciations in which they were officially interested. Numerous books, too, 
were consulted ; some of which have been duly credited, and others 
have been used where credit seemed impossible. 

The publisher is exerting every reasonable effort to keep up the 
reputation of " King's Handbook of Boston " as the standard popular 

3 



4 PREFACE. 

history, guide, and reference-book to the New- England metropoHs, by 
constantly adding to and carefully revising its contents, both in illustra- 
tions and text. To encourage him in this work, he trusts the residents 
of Boston will be generous in their patronage, first, by buying copies of 
the various editions for themselves as necessary reference-books, and, 
secondly, by sending away one or more copies to friends who are intei^ 
ested in the city. 

It is due to ^lacullar, Parker, & Company, to say that they have already 
bought fully twenty-five hundred copies of this work, and have distrib- 
uted them in all quarters of the globe. 

All of the editions, now amounting to twenty-two thousand (22,000) 
copies, have been printed by Rand, Avery, & Co., of the Franklin Press, 
whose immense establishment has long since become famous throughout 
the country for its exquisite printing and perfect proof-reading. 

If this book were going to be dedicated to anybody, it would be 

©etiiratctJ 

TO THE THOUSANDS WHO HAVE BOUGHT IT ALREADY. 

AND ALSO 

TO THE THOUSANDS WHO ARE GOING TO BUY IT HEREAFTER. 



All suggestions for improving, and all notes for correcting the book, 
should be addressed to 

MOSES KING, Editor and Publisher 

King's Handbook of Boston, 

Cambridge, Mass, 
May I, i88v 




E BOSTON OF THE PAST. 



A Ski ICII Ol lib Ill&lOK'V 



N 



O cit\ in the United States has a moie inter- 



/I 



/ 



,1) the }ear 1630, and up to the time of the Revo- 
lution it was the fiist town in the countr), both in 
point of population and influence. In i62<S the 
district known as the Massachusetts Ba}- Colon/ 
was bought In people fiom Doi Chester, England; 
and a }eai latci Chailestown, now a pait of Boston, 
was first settled The peninsala, hing opposite 
Chailestown, on the other side of the Charles 
I<.i\er, was then called Mushauwomuk b) the In- 
dians, which IS said by some historians to ha\e signified "luing fountains," 
and by otheis '-fiee land/' or "land unclaimed," and this afterward 
became abbreviated to " Shawmut." Winthrop and his associates, who 
settled it from Charlestown, called it Trimountaine, probably from its 
three hills afterwards knowai as Beacon, Copp's, and Fort Hills, though 
possibly from the three peaks of Beacon Hill, described in 1633 by Wood 
the voyager as " three little hills on top of a high mountain." The first 
settler here w^as the Rev. William Blaxton, wiio lived between the present 
Louisburg Square and the Charles River. He held an unquestioned 
proprietorship to the whole peninsula of Boston ; and wlien his ownership 
was recognized by the court, each householder agreed to pay no less than 

Copyrighted in 1878 by MosES King. Re-entered 1879, ^nd again in 1881, 1883, and 1885. 

5 



6 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



six shillings to make up the required sum of ^30 to buy of him all but six 
acres where his house stood. This was accomplished ; and with the pur- 
chase-money he bought some cows, and " moved on," establishing himself 

in a new home at a point then far 

- "^'^'^'"""TX^ :^ away from Boston, on the banks of a 

^ ^ picturesque river, which is now known 

^2-J ^s the Blackstone, named after him. 
Ann Pollard, who lived to the ripe 
old age of 105, is said to have been 
the first white woman that landed in 
Boston. According to her story, she 
came over in one of the first ships 
that reached Charlestown ; and a few 
days afterwards a party of young 
people rowed to Boston to get some 
good water. As the boat neared the 
declared that she would land first, and 




First House in Boston. 



^^ 



shore, she, being a romping girl 

immediately jumped from the bow to the beach. 

In 1630 the first general court of the colony was 
held in Boston. John Winthrop was the first gov- 
ernor elected by the colonists, and Thomas Dudley 
the deputy-governor. Had these two carried out their 
plan of fortifying " New-towne," the present Cam- 
bridge, the result would possibly have been, that either 
the latter, or some other town, would have become the 
New-England metropolis, instead of Boston. Win- 
throp, however, after he and others had built houses 
at New-towne, saw that Boston was the most prom- 
ising site, and consequently abandoned the project, 
causing thereby the enmity of Dudley. This circum- 
stance, possibly combined with jealousy, led to un- 
friendly disputes between those two magnates, which 
had to be settled by arbitrators. The old beacon, 
shown in all the early plans of the town, and which 
gave the name to Beacon Hill, was erected in 1634-5 
to alarm the country in case of invasion. It stood 
near the present State House, the exact spot being 
the south-east corner of the reservoir on Temple 
Street. It was a tall mast, standing on cross timbers 
placed upon a stone foundation, supported by braces, 
and was ascended by treenails driven into it ; and, 
§ixty-five feet from the base, projected a crane of iron from which an iron 




Beacon, Beacon Hill. 



ro 






tfi 



*^«^ 







■1' 



From " Pioneers in the Settlement of America." Estes 4: Lauriat, Boston. 

QUARREL BETWEEN WINTHROP AND DUDLEY. 



3 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON 

skeleton frame was suspended, to receive a barrel of tar or other combust- 
ibles. When fired this could be seen for a great distance inland. It was 
newly erected in 1768, having fallen from some cause unknown ; and in 1789 
it was blown down. The next year a monument of brick, sixty feet high 
and four in diameter, was erected on its site to the memory of those who fell 
at Bunker Hill; and in 181 1 this was taken down, the mound being levelled. 
The happiest people are those who have no history; and there is not 
much of moment to record concerning this thriving town during the first 
century of its existence. A few interesting facts from the quaint records of 
the early day will show the state of society and public opinion. From 1637 
up to 1676, in the pages of local history can be found cases where persons 
were either banished from Boston, or murdered on account of heresy, 
hung on charges of witchcraft, punished for petty misdemeanors by im- 
prisonment in the stocks, whipped or fined for being Baptists, persecuted in 
various ways for being Quakers, or placed in cages for violating the sab- 
bath. Up to the last century, too, slavery existed in Boston. In 1655 
times were very hard ; and many inhabitants paid their taxes with produce, 
grain, and other articles. The town also suffered from extensive fires in 
1676, 1679, 171 1' '^nd 1760; over 350 buildings being destroyed in the latter 
conflagration. In 1686 there was trouble between the colony and the home 
government ; and Andros, an unpopular governor, was imprisoned by the 
people in 1689, and finally forced to leave the country. The colonial char- 
ter was withdrawn; but in 1692 came a new governor, with an olive-branch 
in the shape of a new charter, and the troubles temporarily ceased. Edward 
Ward, a cockney traveller, thus described the young town in 1699: " On the 
south-west side of Massachusetts Bay, is Boston, whose name is taken from 
a town in Lincolnshire, and is the Metropolis of all New England. The 
houses in some parts joyn as in London. The buildings, like their women, 
being neat and handsome. And their streets, like the hearts of the male 
inhabitants, are paved with pebble." 

The first attempt to establish a paper was made in 1690, and the first 
number is held by the Colonial State Paper Office at London. A copy of 
this, by Dr. Samuel A. Green, was published in vol. i. (1857) of " The His- 
torical Magazine." The first newspaper in America was issued in Boston, 
its publication beginning on April 24, 1704. It was called "The Boston 
News-Letter." Its founder was John Campbell, then the town postmaster; 
and the first number may yet be seen in the library of the Massachusetts 
Historical Society. In 1706 Benjamin Franklin was, it is very generally 
believed, born in the humble little house which stood on Milk Street, on 
the site of the present "Boston Post" building. The old house stood a 
hundred and twenty years, respected as one of the most notable landmarks; 
and its destruction by fire, in 181 1, was keenly regretted, especially by the 




From " Pioneers in the Settlement of America." Estes & Lauriat, Boston. 

ANDROS A PRISONER IN BOSTON. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 




Franklin's Birthplace, iVlilk Street. 



older citizens. A few persons say that Franklin was born in Hanover Street. 
In 1728 two young men fought a duel on the Common, one of them being 
killed. This caused the passage of a stringent law against duelHng. The 

same year the general court was 
removed to Salem. Boston was 
now divided into twelve wards, it 
having been previously, in 1715, 
divided into eight wards ; and in 
1740 it had five public schools and 
fifteen churches. 

Not long after began the exciting 
displays of opposition to the oppres- 
sions of the home government, and 
the petty tyrannies of some of its 
representatives in the colony. The 
citizens wxre jealous of their rights, 
and ever ready to strike for them. 
In 1747 Commodore Knowles of the 
British navy, being short of men, 
openly impressed sailors in the 
streets of the town ; and thereupon 
there was a lively riot. The excitement ran high. Some British officers 
were seized, and were held as hostages by the irate townspeople until 
the release of their fellow-townsmen ; and the commodore was obliged to 
submit, and to return the impressed men when the officers were in turn 
released. In 1750 an indignation meeting of citizens was held to protest 
against the heavy duty levied on tea and other articles of import. In 
1765 the "Sons of Liberty "were organized under the " Liberty Tree," a 
wide-spreading, beautiful elm, which stood in front of a grocery, near what 
is now the corner of Essex and Washington Streets, a tablet on the 
present building marking the spot ; and here were exposed the effigies 
of those men who had favored the passage of the odious Stamp-Act. 
During the exciting period which followed, nearly all the great political 
meetings of the " Sons of Liberty," called together by the hoisting of a 
flag on the staff extending through the branches of the tree, were held 
under its waving boughs and in the square about it. During the siege of 
Boston, about the last of August, 1775, this tree was cut down by a gang in 
the pay of the British soldiers and the Tories, after standing 119 years. 
In 1770 there was continued excitement about, and opposition to, the unjust 
revenues imposed by the liome government ; and we read of an anti-tea- 
drinking society that was formed by the ladies. On the 5th of March of 
this year the Boston Massacre occurred, in which five citizens were killed 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON . ii 

and several wounded by the British soldiers. The affair grew out of a 
trivial street-brawl between the parties in King, now State, Street. Such 
was the feeling caused by the massacre, that it was deemed expedient by the 
British authorities to withdraw the troops from the town. This massacre 
w^as, however, only the cloud before the storm ; for Boston w^as soon to be 
the centre of warlike operations on a large scale. Dec. i6, 1773, the mem- 
orable " Boston tea-party" occurred ; in which a number of citizens disguised 
as Indians boarded several English ships lying at the wharf, and emptied 
342 chests of the obnoxious tea into the harbor. The following year the 
harbor was entirely closed as a port of entry; and in 1775 began the struggle 




Dorchester Heights and the Harbor. 



From " Uarper's WeeUy.' 



for independence, in which Boston and its vicinity took such a prominent 
and honorable share. In April the skirmishes at Lexington and Concord 
took place, rousing the entire country; and June 17 the battle of Bunker 
Hill was fought at Charlestown, resulting in a repulse of the little American 
army. That autumn the British soldiers occupied the Old South Church as 
a riding-school, and in many other ways made themselves particularly disa- 
greeable to the patriotic citizens of the tow^n. The British occupied Boston 
all the following winter; the army under Washington prosecuting its siege 
with much perseverance and vigor, so that in March the Americans w^re 
victorious, forcing Gen. Howe to evacuate the town, and sail away, carrying 
with him a thousand Tories. 



12 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON 

The evacuation of Boston was the result of a strategic movement of 
Washington, in taking possession of the bold, rugged hill known as Dor- 
chester Heights, now a part of South Boston, though still retaining its old 
name among the older residents of the city. Washington confidently ex- 
pected an attack from Howe, and had prepared a counter stroke. Two 
divisions under Putnam were to attack the town. Sullivan, with one, was 
to assault the works on Beacon Hill; Greene, with the other, was to carry 
the port at Barton's Point, and make a junction with Sullivan. But, as 
Drake says in his "Old Landmarks of Boston," "Providence arrested the 
purpose of Howe, and the town was entered without a shot being fired." 
The work of constructing the fortifications on Dorchester Heights was 
begun at about eight o'clock on the night of the 4th of March, and when 
morning dawned the Heights were in condition to afford a good defence 
against small arms and grape-shot. The works commanded both the 
harbor and town, and compelled the British either to evacuate the town, 
or to drive the Americans from their fortifications. The latter course was 
determined upon ; but a furious storm arose, and the design was aban- 
doned, and evacuation took place on March 17, 1776. On July 18 the 
Declaration of Independence was read from the balcony of the Town 
House, amid great rejoicings. With varying and oftentimes doubtful pros- 
pects of success, the war for independence drew gradually toward its close 
in 1781. John Hancock was presiding over the destinies of the Common- 
wealth when the desired consummation of the struggle was reached, and 
the historic town entered upon a new and brighter era of its existence. 

The latter part of the eighteenth century was a period of rapid growth 
and marked improvement in Boston. The population in 1789 was 18,000. 
The Charles-river Bridge, the first of the numerous avenues connecting 
the town with its northern and western suburbs, was completed ; and before 
the close of the century the new State House was finished, and the first two 
theatres — the Boston, and the Haymarket — opened their doors. During 
Washington's visit in 1789 he lodged in a mansion-house on the corner of 
Court and Tremont Streets ; which, although altered and one story higher, 
stood until 1883. On the Court-street front, between the second and third 
stories, was a stone tablet, bearing the inscription: — 



OCCUPIED BY 


.WASHINGTON, 


Oct. 1789. 



Washington Street, during the same year, was named in honor of this visit. 
Among those who were occupants of the old building were Harrison Gray 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON 



^3 




01 ^ 










Washington's Lodgings, Court Street. 



Otis, the eminent lawyer, and Daniel Webster, who had his law-office there 
during his residence in Boston. The upper stories for many years were 
almost exclusively occupied by lawyers ; 
and the lower story was for over fifty 
years occupied by the wholesale and 
retail grocery store of Samuel S. Pierce, 
later S. S. Pierce & Co., which was again 
opened here in 1884, upon completion of 
the new building. The site so long oc- 
cupied by a building of modest exterior 
now sustains one of the most imposing 
buildings of the city. 

From the beginning of the nineteenth 
century, the greater portion of the histori- 
cal events can be recalled by many per- 
sons now living. Our aim shall be briefly 
to mention some of the most notable. 

During the autumn of 1804 a terrific 
gale visited Boston, blowing down sev- 
eral church-steeples, and doing much damage. The news of the declara- 
tion of war against England in 181 2 was 
receive^ by Bostonians with indignation. 
Her influential men had opposed the em- 
bargo laid upon commerce with England, 

an -^ -;---- - y - : : .>- which was a heavy blow to the interests of 

m _^h wi^f^-^^p^^-^ ' ^ : I j j3oston and Massachusetts, one-third of the 
i! -IM rr. ^. IT^i N^ :! IL shipping of the United States being at that 

time owned in the State; and they jDro- 
nounced the war a serious mistake. Nev- 
ertheless, at the call for troops a regiment 
was raised here ; and in 181 4, when a British 
fleet was reported to be off the coast, ex- 
^ tensive preparations were made to give it a 
warm reception, should it come this way. 
Peace was gladly welcomed the next year. 

In 1816 Webster came to Boston. He 
lived first in Mount Vernon Street, on the 
summit of Beacon Hill, a few rods north- 
west of the State House ; later, in the house 
now standing at No. 37 Somerset Street; 
and afterwards at the corner of High and Summer Streets, where he enter- 
tained Lafayette in magnificent style during the visit of the latter in 1824. 




^f-f^ ;^ 'jT^i V^ :|^ 







Site of Webster's Home, Summer Street. 



T4 ■ KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

Webster's residence in Summer Street, now numbered 136 and 138, was 
long marked by a splendid block of stores, known as " The Webster 
Buildings." This went down in the great fire of 1872, but was soon re- 
placed by a substantial iron-front building erected as a warehouse for Wm. 
Claflin, Coburn, & Co., one of the oldest and most prominent boot-manufac- 
turing firms in the United States. 

In 1821 the West-Point Cadets, under command of Major Worth, U.S A., 
marched to Boston, and encamped on the Common. They were accompa- 
nied by the finest band in the country, the music of which was nightly lis- 
tened to by an admiring multitude ; and Willis's strains from a Kent bugle, 
an instrument then first introduced, were long remembered. 

On Feb. 22, 1822, after many years' agitation of the subject, the first peti- 
tion having been made as early as the year 1709, an act establishing the city 
of Boston was passed by the legislature, and accepted by the citizens ; and 
May I, Boston became a city. John Phillips was the first mayor. He was 
succeeded by Josiah Ouincy, who was in office six successive years. The 
other mayors of Boston, in the order of their service, were : Harrison Gray 
Otis, three terms ; Charles Wells, two ; Theodore Lyman, jun., two ; Samuel 
T. Armstrong, one ; Samuel A. Eliot, three ; Jonathan Chapman, three ; 
Martin Brimmer, two; Thomas A. Davis, one ; Josiah Ouincy, jun., three; 
John P. Bigelow, three; Benjamin Seaver, two; Jerome V. C. Smith, tw^o ; 
Alexander H. Rice, two ; Frederic W. Lincoln, jun., three ; Joseph M. Wight- 
man, two; Frederic W. 
^__ ,^^-----.. ^ Lincoln, jun., again, four; 

lSl,7ii- "^r "^ Otis Norcross, one; Na- 

thaniel B. Shurtleff, three ; 
William Gaston, two ; Hen- 
ry L. Pierce, one ; Samuel 
C. Cobb, three ; Frederick 
O. Prince, one ; Henry L. 
Pierce, one; F. O. Prince, 
three ; Samuel A. Green : 
Albert Palmer; A. P. ALir- 
tin ; and Hugh O'Brien. 
In 1S24 Lafayette occi- 
pied part of the double 
house now standing at 

Lafayette's Lodgings, Beacon Street. the CCrncr of Park and 

Beacon Streets ; the other 
part afterwards becoming the residence of George Ticknor, the distin- 
guished historian of Spanish literature, and one of the great benefactors 
of the Boston Public Library. Among the early occupants of this mansion 




KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 15 

were Gov. Christopher Gore, in honor of whom the Harvard College Library 
has been named; Edward G. Malbone, the portrait-painter; Hon. Samuel 
Dexter, an eminent lawyer and statesman, w^ho had been secretary of war, 
secretary of the treasury, acting secretary of state, and the first president 
of the earliest Massachusetts temperance society. Mr. Ticknor was an. 
occupant of the house from 1830 until his death in 1870. It was occupied 
by his family until Mrs. George Ticknor's death in 1885. 

In 1824 the population of the city was 58,000. During the next few years 
numerous public improvements were made : among them the opening of the 
East-Boston and Chelsea ferries ; the completion of the Warren Bridge 
connecting Charlestown with Boston ; the laying of gas-pipes ; and the erec- 
tion of many notable public and private buildings, including a new court- 
house, custom-house, and three theatres, the Tremont, Federal, and Warren. 

In 1830 the population had grown to 61,000, and the city celebrated the 
second centenary of its settlement. In 1833 the old hero, Andrew Jackson, 
visited Boston, and was received with great popular enthusiasm. The Whig 
party was formed about this time. It was in 1834 that the Ursuline Convent 
in Charlestown was burned by a mob. 

In 1837 a large delegation of the Sacs and Fox Indians arrived from the 
far West, and, in all the gorgeousness of paint and feathers, exhibited on 
the Common their war-dances and other feats before interested thousands. 
Boston suffered, in common with other parts of the country, in the panic of 
this year, and its banks suspended specie payments ; but in good time it re- 
covered, and entered upon another season of prosperity. In 1840 the first 
steamship-line between Boston and Liverpool was established. In 1843 
President Tyler and Gen. Scott visited Boston. 

In 1844, after a period of intense cold, the harbor w^as firmly frozen as 
far down as the lighthouse ; and its surface was enlivened with skating, 
coasting, sledding, and sleighing. Cargoes were discharged on to teams, 
and transported to the warehouses. Booths, as on high holidays, filled 
with eatables and drinkables, added to the gayety of the scene, in one of 
which was repeated the laughable ruse, which originated at Dedham, to 
avoid the then stringent liquor law^, by placing thereon a placard of " The 
striped pig on exhibition," and exhibiting him in the form of drinks to suit: 
and for years "the striped pig" was a synonyme for a glass of liquor. It 
was during this ice-embargo that the enterprising Boston merchants, aided 
by the Fresh Pond ice-cutters, cut a channel seven miles long to enable the 
imprisoned Cunard steamship to prosecute her voyage to England. 

In 1847 President Polk was the guest of the city. During this year 
there was a great fire at the North End, which consumed more than one 
hundred buildings, w^ith their contents. In 1848 the Cochituate water was 
introduced, and the event celebrated with an imposing display. In 1849 



t6 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



there was unexampled mortality from Asiatic cholera. In 1850 Professor 
John W. Webster was hung for the murder of Dr. George Parkman, one 
of the most extraordinary cases in the history of American crime. The 
advent of Jenny Lind was a notable event of the same year ; the great 
Swedish vocalist singing to audiences of upwards of 4,000 people. At this 
period the anti-slavery agitation became intense; and in 1854 the Burns 
riot occurred, caused by efforts to liberate Anthony Burns, a fugitive slave, 
one man being killed and several seriously hurt. In i860 the Prince of 
Wales with his suite visited Boston. 

The opening of the civil war in 1861 found Boston in a state of patri- 
otic ferment. Great out-door war-meetings were held, and recruiting was 
early begun, and carried on vigorously. During the war the city responded 
promptly to every call for men or money, and sent into the army and navy 
26,119 men, 685 of whom were commissioned officers. In the sanitary 
work the Boston people, prominently the women, were among the foremost. 
In 1863 a draft-riot occurred at the North End, but it was soon overcome 
by the authorities. 




Hancock's House, Beacon Street. 



In 1863 the old Hancock House, a stone building, one of the noblest 
private mansions of the colonial period, and one of the unique features of 
this part of the city, was removed. It stood just beyond the State House, 



KING'S HANDBOOK Op BOS7'ON. 17 

on Beacon Street, facing the Common. Here Hancock, who was famous as 
a generous host, entertained the great men of the day in almost princely 
style. A great effort was made to preserve this old landmark, but without 
avail, although the house was in excellent preservation, " The chamber of 
Lafayette remained as when he slept in it ; the apartment in which Hancock 
died was intact ; the audience-hall was the same in which Washington, 
D'Estaing, Brissot, the Percy, and many more had stood; and finally the 
entrance-hall, in which for eight days the dead patriot lay in state, opened 
upon the broad staircase as in the time of old Thomas and Lydia Hancock." 
We quote from Drake. Private residences now occupy the site of the house. 
In 1865 the rejoicings over the emancipation proclamation and the end 
of the war were sharply turned to mourning by the news of the assassina- 
tion of the beloved President Lincoln. Boston, in common with the other 
large cities of the North, gave expression to the universal feeling of grief 
by a funeral procession of vast length. The history of Boston since the 
war has been crowded with noteworthy events, at which the limits of this 
sketch allow us the merest glance. In 1867 Gen. Sheridan paid a visit to 
the city. In the same year Gov. Andrew died suddenly at his city home. 
In 1868 Gen. Grant visited the city for the first time since the war, and 
was received with warm demonstrations of welcome. The ensuing year was 
marked by a grand event, which could only have been carried out by the 
enterprise of a city like Boston combined with the talent of a man like P. 
S. Gilmore, — the National Peace Jubilee. It took place from June 15 to 19 
in the huge Coliseum, temporarily erected for the purpose between the Back 
Bay and the South End. and was a remarkable success, drawing thou- 
sands of visitors from all sections of the country, and exciting the most 
unrestrained enthusiasm, both on account of its musical features and of its 
patriotic tendency. In 1870 Prince Arthur visited Boston. The same year 
the city was called upon to mourn the death of George Peabody, the philan- 
thropist, and of the Hon. Anson Burlingame, whose remains lay in state in 
Faneuil Hall. In 1871 the old building standing in the middle of Court 
Street, near Tremont and Cornhill, known as Scollay's Building, was 
removed, leaving an open area, now called Scollay Square. This year 
the Grand Duke Alexis of Russia visited the city, and was treated to a 
round of brilliant gayeties. The year 1872 was eventful. From June 17 to 
July 7 the second grand musical festival was held, and was attended by from 
30,000 to 100,000 people daily. It also was held in a temporary Cohseum 
of vast size ; and special national musical features were introduced by 
bands from England, France, Germany, and other countries. Johann 
Strauss led the orchestra while it played his own waltzes. A grand ball 
was given, Gen. Grant being present. The enterprise was regarded as a 
grand success, although it was not remunerative to the shareholders. Dur- 



1 8 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

ing the following autumn came the epizootic epidemic, rendering almost all 
the horses useless for the time being, and causing great inconvenience. 

On Nov. 9, this year, at 7.15 o'clock in the evening, the Great Boston 
Fire broke out. The flames started at the corner of Summer and Kingston 
Streets, and spread with terrible speed. In spite of the efforts of the fire- 
men, the flames sped north-east and north into the very heart of the substan- 
tial business district of the city, where a great proportion of the buildings 
were of solid granite, and used for wholesale business. Aid was summoned 
from the suburban and even from distant cities ; and special trains bearing 
fire-engines came hastening into the panic-stricken city from all sides. 
Buildings were blown up in the hope that the gaps thus left would not be 
bridged by the furious on-sweeping flames, and the gas was cut off, 
leaving the city almost in darkness. The militia went on duty to aid the 
police in preventing the wholesale lawlessness that threatened to add to the 
terrors of the time. When the fire finally stopped, it had spread over 65 
acres, and destroyed about $80,000,000 worth of property and many lives, 
leaving the entire district bounded by Summer, Washington, Milk, and 
Broad Streets a smoking chaos of ruins. Boston recovered wnth almost 
incredible elasticity and pluck from this terrible blow; and the "burnt 
district" is to-day a section of imposing and substantial business ware- 
houses, its appearance greatly improved, and the wealth and convenience 
of this part of the city thereby increased. In 1873 another serious fire 
destroyed several squares of buildings. Subsequent calamities have not 
been infrequent. Within a few years there have been numbers of those 
startling and often unaccountable accidents so common in American cities. 
Among these may be mentioned extensive fires in 1874, 1877, and 1878; the 
blowing up of a building on the corner of Washington and La Grange 
Streets ; the explosion under the sidewalk near the Federal-street Bridge in 
South Boston, by which several lives were lost; and the explosion of Jen- 
ney's oil establishment in South Boston. 

In 1874 Charles Sumner died. His early home was the old-fashioned 
painted brick house, of generous width, now standing at No. 20 Hancock 
Street. It was purchased by his father in 1830, and was in the possession 
of the family from that time until 1867, when it was sold to Judge Thomas 
Russell, collector of the port of Boston, afterward minister to Venezuela, 
and now a State railroad commissioner. Sumners law-ofiice was at No. J. 
Court Street, at the corner of Washington. Here he was associated for 
twenty years, beginning in 1834, with George S. Hillard. In the building, 
during the time of his occupancy, were the offices of a number of eminent 
members of the Suffolk bar; among them. Thcophilus Parsons, Rufus 
Choate, Horace Mann, Edward G. Loring, Peleg W. Chandler, and, later, 
John A. Andrew. 




I. The Claflin Guards, W. B. Sears, Capt. 2. View from Washington Street. 3. The Burnt District 
THE BOSTON FIRE OF 1872. 



20 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 






The Bunker-hill centennial celebration is something extremely agreeable 
in the recent history of Boston. Preceded as it was by the celebra- 
tion of the battles of Lexington and Concord on the 19th of April, 1875, 
popular enthusiasm had been grad- 
ually increasing for weeks before the 
memorable 17th of June, — the date 
of one of the grandest demonstra- 
tions ever seen in this or any other 
country. The city, the state, and 
the private citizens vied with each 
other in their efforts to make the 
event a glorious success. The cele- 
bration was begun by an official 
reception in the Music Hall on the 
evening of June 16, given by the city 
to its guests, many of whom were 
from the South. The affair was 
made memorable especially by the 
spontaneous expressions of good- 
will and of a desire for reconcilia- 
tion on the part of the late Confed- 
erates who participated ; and a tone 
of lofty and heart-felt patriotism 

pervaded the meeting. The hall was brilliantly decorated, and hundreds 
of distinguished guests were present, besides military bodies from South 
Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, New York, and many other States. The 
speaking was by Mayor Cobb, Gov. Gaston, Col. A. O. Andrews of South 
Carolina, Gen. Fitz-Hugh Lee of Virginia, Gen. Judson C. Kilpatrick, Gen. 
W. T. Sherman, Gen. A. E. Burnside, and Vice-President Wilson. The 
enthusiasm cannot be described, and was entirely unusual in its character. 
The next morning the city woke up to find its streets filled with vast 
crowds of visitors; flags floated from almost every building, the streets 
were gay with banners, and the entire town was in gala array. After a 
military review in the morning, the great procession started on its long 
march at 1.15 p.m., under Chief-Marshal Gen. Francis A. Osborn. The pro- 
cession included the whole militia force of Massachusetts ; regiments from 
New York, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Providence ; companies from Pennsyl- 
vania, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Virginia, Washington, New York, South 
Carolina, and New Hampshire ; hundreds of governors, generals, and dis- 
tinguished guests from all parts of the country ; civic associations, secret 
societies, veteran bodies, benevolent and temperance societies, and a trades 
division in which were 421 vehicles drawn by 1,587 horses. The number of 




Sumner's House. Hancock Street. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON 2r 

men marching in the parade has never been approximately estimated, but 
may be inferred from the fact that the time occupied by the procession in 
passing a given point (all delays being deducted) was three hours and fifty 
minutes. The railroads alone brought 140,000 people into the city on that 
day. Exercises at the Bunker-hill Monument in the afternoon were pre- 
sided over by Judge G. W. Warren ; and the oration was delivered by Gen. 
Charles Devens, jun. 

On March 17, following this memorable celebration, the one hundredth 
anniversary of the evacuation of Boston by the British was observed in a 
somewhat elaborate fashion. Historic points and buildings were noted and 
decorated, speeches were made in the Old South Church, and an oration was 
delivered in Music Hall. 

Jan. 25, 1877, the Moody and Sankey Tabernacle, a large brick building, 
well constructed, though built for a temporary purpose, and capable of seat- 
ing 6,000 persons, situated at the junction of Tremont Street and Warren 
Avenue, was dedicated ; and on the 28th began the season of daily revival 
meetings that continued without interruption until May 27. Dwight L. 
Moody preached and held prayer-meetings daily, both afternoon and even- 
ing, with few exceptions ; and Ira D. Sankey sang, supported by a vast 
choir under the direction of Eben Tourjee. Great crowds were attracted, 
not only from the city, but from the surrounding country, excursion trains 
running on the railroads. The meetings created a profound sensation. On 
March 9 of this year there was one of the severest gales ever known in this 
vicinity. The velocity of the wind was seventy-two miles an hour. The 
storm area was of great extent, striking the whole Atlantic seaboard, and 
extending west beyond the Mississippi. On the evening of April 9 the 
social event of the season occurred, — the Old South Ball, in aid of the pre- 
servation fund, which was given in Music Hall. June 26-27 President 
Hayes, with Evarts, Sherman, Key, and Devens, of his Cabinet, visited the 
city. There was a procession and review in their honor, and a civile banquet 
at the Hotel Brunswick. The President attended Commencement at Har- 
vard, and the degree of LL.D. was conferred upon him. A few days previous 
to the visit of the President, a delegation of ladies of the Woman's Christian 
Temperance Union, headed by Mrs. M. A. Livermore, presented a memorial 
to Mayor Prince praying for the banishment of liquor from the forthcoming 
city dinner to the Presidential party. There was a free interchange of 
views. Mayor Prince earnestly debating the question with Mrs. Livermore. 
Liquor, however, was not banished from the festive board. On Sept. 17, 
on the occasion of the dedication of the Army and Navy Monument, there 
was a great procession, the military feature being the most conspicuous. 
The entire militia of the State was in line, the principal posts of the Grand 
Army of the Republic, and many distinguished veterans of the war of the 



2 2 KING 'S HA NDB OOK OF B OS TON. 

Rebellion, There was also a large representation of civic organizations, and 
children of the public schools. Gen. Devens was the orator of the day. 
On Sept. 19 Gen. McClellan was given a reception in Faneuil Hall. 

The first place of business in this country to make use of the electric 
light was the Continental Clothing House, at the south-west corner of Wash- 
ington and Harvard Streets ; the proprietors, Freeland, Loomis, & Co., suc- 
cessfully making the experiment Nov. 14, 1878. In 1881 the light was 
introduced in illuminating Scollay Square and a section of Court Street at 
night ; and it was also employed in a number of hotels, shops, and large 
establishments. Its general introduction in the street-lighting of the city 
has since been carried forward. 

An impressive ceremony took place on the 28th of May, 1879, when the 
funeral rites of William Lloyd Garrison, one of Boston's most illustrious 
citizens, were performed. The services took place in the church in Eliot 
Square, Roxbury district, and comprised an eloquent oration by Wendell 
Phillips, and addresses by Lucy Stone, Theodore D. W^eld, and the Revs. 
Samuel May and Samuel Johnson. A fitting poetical tribute was paid by 
John G. Whittier, and music was appropriately furnished by a quartet of 
colored people. 

On the third day of December, 1879, a notable gathering took place at 
the Hotel Brunswick. It was a "breakfast " given by the proprietors of 
"The Atlantic Monthly" in honor of Oliver Wendell Holmes, who a short 
time previous, Aug. 29, had attained his seventieth birthday. The gather- 
ing included many of the representative literary men and women of this 
country. The seventieth birthday of Whittier was celebrated in a similar 
way two years before. 

Anniversary celebrations of important dates are numerous, and no peo- 
ple take greater pride in recalling noteworthy events and illustrious people 
than do the Bostonians. It was peculiarly fitting, therefore, that the citizens 
should enthusiastically celebrate the 250th anniversary of the settlement of 
their own famous city. Accordingly on Sept. 17, 1880, after several months' 
preparation, a celebration took place that will be vividly remembered for 
many years. The day was "one of the most favorable that Providence 
ever granted for an out-door display, — one of the pearls of our New- 
England climate." From early in tlie morning till past midnight the city 
was all aglow ; a new statue of Gov. John Winthrop, its founder, erected 
in Scollay Square, was unveiled ; there were exercises in the Old South 
Church, including an historical oration by Mayor Prince; a civic, military, 
and trades procession ; and an evening procession with illuminated tableaux. 
Here as well as elsewhere, appropriate services took place on the one hun- 
dredth anniversary, June 27, 1880, of the establishment of Sunday schools, 
and the five hundredth of the translation of the Bible into the English Ian 
guage. , 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 




24 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

In October, 1882, President Arthur visited Boston, and was escorted 
through the streets by the splendidly disciplined brigades and batteries of 
the State militia, after which he held a great reception at the Hotel Bruns- 
wick, in the evening, and was introduced to thousands of citizens. Gov. 
Long, Mayor Green, and several cabinet officers, were present. 

Of old Boston, a hundred years ago, the following pleasing sketch is 
condensed from the address of the Rev. Dr. George E. Ellis, on the occasion 
of the celebration of the hundredth anniversary of the evacuation of Boston 
by the British : " ' Well-to-do,' 'fore-handed,' were the local phrases by which 
the general condition of the people would have been described. There was 
real wealth, too, in the hands of some, with complacency, luxury, and dis- 
play. There were stately and substantial dwellings, with rich and solid fur- 
nishings for parlor, dining-room, hall, and chamber, with plate and tapestry, 
brocades and laces. There were portraits, by foreign and resident artists, 
of those who were ancestors, and those who meant to be ancestors. There 
were formal costumes and manners for the gentry, with parade and etiquette, 
a self-respecting decorum in intercourse with their own and other classes, 
warm hospitality, good appetites, and abundant viands, liquid and solid, for 
all. The buildings were detached, none of them in blocks. The homes 
of many of the merchant-princes and high magistrates were relatively more 
palatial than are any in the city to-day. They stood conspicuous and large, 
surrounded by generous spaces, with lawns and trees, with fruit and vege- 
table gardens, and fields for pasture, and coach and cattle barns. There 
were fine equipages, with black coachmen and footmen. There were still 
wide unfenced spaces, and declivities and thickets, where the barberry-bush, 
the flag, and the mullein-stalk grew undisturbed. There were many quaint 
old nooks and corners, taverns and inns, ' coffee-houses,' — the drinking- 
vessels in which were not especially adapted to that beverage, — shops 
designated by emblems and symbols, loitering-places for news and gossip, 
resorts of boys and negroes for play or roguery, and some dark holes on 
wharf or lane. . . . There were some two thousand buildings, four being of 
stone, of which King's Chapel alone remains. Between Beacon and the 
foot of Park Street stood the workhouse, the poorhouse, and the Bride- 
well, — all facing the Common. On the site of the Park-street Church 
stood the Granary; opposite, a large manufactory building, used by the 
British for a hospital. The jail occupied the site of the present Court- 
house. King and Queen, now State and Court Streets, were the most 
compactly covered, and lined with taverns, dwellings, marts, and offices of 
exchange. The house provided by the Province for the British governor 
was opposite the Old South, standing far back, stately, commodious, with 
trees and lawn up to Washington Street. The Old State House; with a 
dignity which it has not now, held the halls of the council and the repre- 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 25 

sentatives, with royal portraits and adornings. How little is there here now 
which the patriots and citizens of the old days, if they came back, would 
recognize ! " 

Such was Boston a hundred years ago. A great, far-reaching, imposing 
modern city has taken the place of the bustling, quaint, picturesque town of 
that day. Even during the past half-century Boston has changed marvel- 
lously in appearance, customs, and manners. Few of the historic old land- 
marks remain, and these few are evidently doomed soon to disappear before 
the onward march of the utilitarian. It has lost much of its homely quaint- 
ness ; but with this loss it has gained greatly in other directions. To the 
older citizen much of its charm has gone forever, and in many parts it has 
to him an unfamiliar look. Its odd old streets, so incomprehensible to the 
stranger, have been untwisted and untangled, widened and straightened, 
and cut away, and their peculiar characteristics almost entirely effaced. A 
new and modern architecture in its buildings has largely superseded the 
old, and radical changes have been made in every direction. Picturesque 
and attractive in many ways as was old Boston, the new Boston, with its 
wealth of magnificent buildings in the busy, bustling " down-town " section, 
its rows of elegant and costly residences in the Back Bay and other dis- 
tricts, its countless refined homes, its artistic adornments, and its many 
stately structures, public and private, is a most attractive modern city, 
frankly accorded to be — even by those of other places proud of their own 
cities — the finest in the country. The Boston of to-day is a city well fin- 
ished and well furnished, richly, and to a large degree tastefully, adorned ; 
but the work of improvement and change is perceptibly going on. 

Up to the beginning of the last half-century the territorial area and aspect 
of the city had changed but littlco It was then a pear-shaped peninsula, in 
its extreme length less than two miles, and its greatest breadth a little more 
than one. "It hung to the mainland at Roxbury," says one writer, " by a 
slender stem, or neck, of a mile in length, so low and narrow between tide- 
washed flats that it was often submerged." But now the original 783 acres 
of solid land have become 1,829. The broad, oozy salt-marshes, the estu- 
aries, coverts, and bays, once stretching wide on its northern and southern 
bounds, have been reclaimed ; and where then the area was the narrowest, 
it is nov; the widest. The hills have been cut down, — one. Fort Hill, 
entirely removed ; the whole surface of the original ground has been levelled 
and graded, and every square inch turned over and over; new territory has 
been added by annexing adjoining suburban cities and towns, until now the 
area of the city, with all its districts, is 23,661 acres (36^"^^ square miles), 
more than thirty times as great as the original area. The area of the dis- 
tricts is as follows : South Boston, 1,002 acres ; East Boston, 836; Roxbury, 
2,700; Dorchester, 5,614; West Roxbury, 7,848; Brighton, 2,277; Charles- 
town, 586; Breed's Island, 785; Deer Island, 184. 



26 KING'S HAND BO OK OF BOSTON. 

From 1800 to 1880, when the last census was taken, the population 
increased from 25,000 to 362,839; the number of polls during the same 
period, from 4,543 to 93,820; the total valuation, from $15,095,700 to $639,- 
462,495; the tax-levy, from less than $80,000 to $9,91 3,95 i-i3- The city 
debt is heavy, but with its present means and accumulations the city can pay 
at maturity all its indebtedness. The total gross debt of all descriptions, 
Dec. 31, 1884, when the last statement was made, was $42,981,934.91, against 
$42,544,123.96 the year preceding. This debt is classified as follows: city 
debt proper, about $27,000,000; Cochituate-water loans, $12,907,773.98; 
Charlestown debt (loans outstanding), $1,002,000; Charlestown Mystic-water 
debt (loans outstanding), $840,000; West-Roxbury debt (loans outstanding), 
$160,000. The sinking-funds, etc., pledged to meet the debt, amount to $18,- 
215,870.64. The net decrease in the debt in the year 1884 was $545,571.25. 
The appropriation bill exceeds $10,000,000 yearly. In 1884 the valuation of 
the city was $682,648,000; and the valuation per capita, $1,665, with a net 
debt per capita of $60. The debt has increased more than twice as fast as 
the taxable property. Roxbury's valuation when annexed to Boston, in 
1867, was $26,551,700; Dorchester's when annexed, in 1869, was $20,315,- 
700; Charlestown's when annexed, in 1873, 135,289,682; West Roxbury's 
when annexed, same year, $22,148,600; and Brighton's when annexed, same 
year, $14,548,531. Within twelve miles of the City Hall, there is a popu- 
lation of about 700,000. The comp-firison of the population of Boston and 
its suburbs, five cities and fifteen towns, showed a population, in 1880, of 
571,258, — a gain of 40,180 since the State census of 1875, and an increase 
of 126,203 as compared wnth the United-States census of 1870. More than 
one-half of the increase during the past ten years has been within the 
present limits of this city. The population of Boston at the present time is 
estimated in Mayor Hugh O'Brien's address (Jan. 5, 1885), at 410,000. Of 
Boston of the present day, beyond the brief glimpse given in this opening 
chapter, the following pages will be found to present, we trust, an interesting 
picture. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 27 



Wc^t Arteries of t{}e Citg* 

THE STREETS, WAYS, DRIVES, BRIDGES, SEWERS, AND 
HORSE-RAILROADS. 

MANY Streets in old Boston had been named for London streets, and 
ways and places in other parts of old England ; but after the Revolu- 
tion the citizens made haste to change the most obnoxious of these names 
for others of a more republican flavor. Thus King Street was promptly 
changed to State Street, and Queen to Court. Richmond Street before 1708 
was called Beer Lane, from Beer Lane in London; and Salem Street prior to 
the same date was called Back Street. The name of Hanover Street was 
not changed, though a " perpetual reminder of a detested house ; " and until 
1854 the tough old street now North was called Ann, in honor of Queen Anne. 
The portion of Congress Street south of Milk Street before 1855 was Atkin 
son Street, named from the ancient Atkinson family, who came from Lan- 
cashire. Federal Street before 1788 was Long Lane. Dock Square was so 
named because it was " the place around the dock." Milk and Cornhill were 
named from streets of the same names in London ; and in both the old and 
the present Cornhill, for years was the headquarters of the book-trade. 
Franklin Avenue, the narrow way which now runs from Cornhill to Court, 
was so named for the reason that in a printing-office standing at the Court- 
street corner Franklin served his api^renticeship. Hawley Street was for- 
merly Bishop's Alley, and afterwards, until 1792, Broad Alley. Boylston 
Street was anciently Frog Lane ; and Devonshire Street was, up to the close 
of the Revolution, Pudding Lane, from the street of the same name in Lon- 
don. Bowdoin Street and Square were named for the governor. Bowdoin 
Square was the seat of many elegant old-time estates, with broad acres, 
gardens, and noble trees. Chardon Street was named for Peter Chardon, an 
eminent merchant, one of the Huguenot descendants, who lived on the cor- 
ner where the Bowdoin-square Church now stands. Leverett Street is from 
the famous old Governor John. Causeway Street was named for the old 
causeway built on substantially its present line, and which made a pond of 
many acres between Prince and Pitts Streets. The first block of brick 
buildings erected in the town was built as late as 1793, in what is now Frank- 
lin Street. Broad Street was laid out in 1806, at the generous width of 
seventy feet; and India Street was opened the year following. Blackstone 
Street, named after the first settler of Boston, was opened about 1834, and 



28 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

was built upon the bed of the old Middlesex Canal, by which boats came 
down from Chelmsford on the Merrimack to the wharves on the east side 
of Boston. Harrison Avenue was opened in 1841, and was named in honor of 
Gen. Harrison. Beacon Street was named, of course, for Beacon Hill ; and 
when the name was confirmed by the town, the street extended only to the 
present State-house grounds. The street, now one of the most "toney" in 
the city, w^as first called " the lane to the almshouse ! " Province Court and 
Street, from School to Bromfield, in the rear of Washington, were originally 
avenues to the stables and the rear grounds of the old Province House, the 
ancient abode of the royal governors, and one of the last relics of the colony 
to disappear. Hence their names. The stately building fronted on that part 
of Washington Street formerly known as Marlborough, nearly opposite the 
head of Milk Street, with a handsome lawn in front ornamented by two 
stately oaks. From the balcony over the generous entrance, the viceroys of 
the province were accustomed to harangue the people, or read proclamations. 
After the adoption of the State Constitution it became a government house, 
and was for a while the official residence of the governors. Later it was 
sold, converted to the uses of trade, and fell from its proud position in 
colonial times, droj^ping lower and lower in the social scale, becoming a 
tavern, and last a hall of negro minstrelsy. It was destroyed by fire in 
October, 1864. The Province House formed the theme of one of Haw- 
thorne's weird and fascinating fancies in his " Twice -Told Tales." 

The streets of the business portion of Boston, which embraces almost all 
of old Boston, have long been pronounced a hopeless tangle by those un- 
familiar with their tortuous courses, and their tendency to run into and 
across each other; but in consequence of much changing, widening, and 
straightening, at a heavy expense to the city, many of the crooked ways have 
been made comparatively straight, though it must be confessed that many 
yet remain greatly to perplex the stranger, and even the born Bostonian in his 
endeavor to direct a bewildered inquirer. But these very crooked and twist- 
ing streets are one of the peculiar charms of Boston, and add much to 
its picturesque appearance. The new streets are spacious, direct and 
straightforward enough to suit even the square-cut Philadclphian. Wash- 
ington Street, first called Broadway, then Broad Street, and often simply the 
Way, has always been one of the main thoroughfares. At first it extended 
from near Dover Street to the Roxbury line ; but in 1824 the names of the 
down-town twists of the present street, up to that time known as Cornhill, 
Marlborough, Newbury, and Orange, were all changed to Washington. In 
1873-4, at a cost of over $1,500,000, it was extended farther down to 
Haymarket Square, whence it now runs to the Highlands, as the former 
city of Roxbury, now a part of Boston, is popularly called. Tremont, one 
of the principal retail streets, is of course a contraction of Trimountaine. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



29 



In 1805 there was but one brick house on this street. Wir^ter Street, 
formerly Bolt's Lane, is familiarly called the " Ladies' Street," because 
the stores upon it are exclusively for ladies' trade, and crowds of ladies 
throng it pleasant days. Other principal retail streets are Temple Place ; 
West Street ; Tremont Row, which forms one side of Court Street north 
of Pemberton Square ; and Hanover Street, which a quarter of a century 
ago was the leading retail street. State Street, flanked with granite build- 
ings, is the principal financial street. The leather trade is chiefly centred, 
as before the great fire of 1872, in Pearl, Congress, Summer, High, and 
neighboring streets; the cotton and wool houses are in the same section 
of the city; the wholesale dry-goods jobbing-houses are on Franklin, Sum- 
mer, Arch, and near-by streets ; Broad and India are notable wholesale 
streets ; and the shipping interests, with the corn and grain trade, are 
found largely represented on Commercial and the streets in its immediate 
vicinity, where are long blocks of massive granite warehouses, Running 
parallel with Washington Street, up town, are Harrison Avenue and Albany 
Street on the east ; and Shawmut Avenue, Tremont Street, Columbus Av- 
enue, and Huntington Avenue, on the west. One of the most fashionable 
carriage-drives is through Beacon Street, over Beacon Hill, along by the 
Common, Public Garden, and a continuous line of elegant residences, and 
out through Commonwealth Avenue or Beacon Street, or the Mill Dam as 
the latter is more commonly called, to Longwood and Brookline, attractive 
suburbs ; the former being not unlike a scene from old English countrv 
life. The Mill Dam, when established, was considered an enterprise of 
great magnitude. The dam extends across the western bay, about a mile 
and a half in length, and seventy feet in width. It originally enclosed 
about six hundred acres of flats, over which the tide flowed from seven to 
ten feet deep. A partition dam divided this enclosure, and formed, by the 
aid of flood and ebb gates, a fall and a receiving basin, thereby exerting a 
vast hydraulic power for the propulsion of machinery. This cross-dam 
also formed a fine avenue from the Mill Dam to Roxbury. The Mill Dam 
begun in 1818, completed in 1821, at a cost of $700,000, was until recently 
used as a popular mile-track for speeding horses, and in the sleighing- 
season the scenes presented were animating and enlivening in the extreme. 
The roadway continues into the famous Brighton Road, familiar to all 
" horsemen," to which locality the racing has been more recently transferred. 
Running from Arlington Street, the western border of the Public Garden, 
and parallel with Beacon Street, are Commonwealth Avenue, Newbury, 
Marlborough, and Boylston Streets. Parallel with Arlington Street are 
Berkele}', Clarendon, Dartmouth, Exeter, Fairfield, Gloucester, Hereford, 
Ipswich, and Jersey, ingeniously named according to the letters of the 
alphabet, and a trisyllabic alternating with a dissyllabic word. This is the 



30 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON 



grand Back-bay section, the fashionable modern West End of Boston. 
These broad and handsome streets are lined with imposing and stately 
private and public edifices, the architectural designs of which, in many 
cases, are most ambitious and elaborate, rendering this part of the city 
justly famous. Indeed, its refined elegance is always remarked with genu- 
ine enthusiasm by visitors ; for no other city in this country, nor possibly 
in any other, displays, in a like space of territory, so much solid wealth, and 
so many superb structures, public and private, as are here spread before the 
eye. The educated and thoroughly trained architect has here had full swing, 
with money, and men of artistic sense, behind him. Bostonians are proud 
of this section of their city ; and their pride is surely pardonable. This 




Arlington Street, opposite the Public Garden. 



Back-bay territory is made-land, over flats which were originally the property 
of the Commonwealth, by whom the filling-in was largely done, at a cost of 
$1,642,000; and thus far the State treasury has received over $5,000,000 by 
the sale of these lands, and only 33,000 feet remained unsold at the begin- 
ning of 1885. The Boston Water-Power Company, a private corporation, 
also filled in many thousand feet in this section, realizing handsomely for it. 
The contractor for filling in and making salable this whole section was 
Norman C. Munson, who began and carried on the work in spite of bitter 
'opposition, and under very many discouraging circumstances. He de- 
rived as his payment for the first work on the Back Bay 260,000 
square feet of the upwards of a million square feet of the land he had 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTO^. 31 

redeemed from unsightly flats, salt marshes, and dreary waste of water; 
and by continuous contracts extending over a period of twenty years he 
ultimately received about seven million dollars for his work on the Back- 
bay District. For forty years Mr. Munson has been a bold railroad con- 
tractor; his. last task being the Massachusetts Central Railroad. 

Commonwealth Avenue is destined to become one of the famous boule- 
vards of the world. It begins on the Arlington-street side of the Public 
Garden, and enters the new Back-bay Park. Its width is 250 feet from 
house to house, 175 feet from curb to curb; and throughout its length, 
of upwards of a mile and a half, there is in the centre a mall or park, 
along which are rows of ornamental trees, prettily-Iaid-out paths, benches, 
and several statues. The strip of park was first enclosed with an iron 
railing; but in 1880 and 1881 it was removed, and as a result the avenue 
is much more picturesque. On Commonwealth Avenue, at the corner 
of Dartmouth Street, was built in 1880 Col. Wolcott's palatial hotel, the 
Vendome. On the avenue are the statues of Alexander Hamilton and 
Gen. John Glover; and the First Baptist Church, with its finely sculptured 
tower. Both sides of the avenue are lined with costly and architecturally 
beautiful residences, so that looking up or down by day, when the stately 
lines of buildings and several rows of trees can be seen for a distance 
of a mile or more, or by night when the avenue is lighted by four 
continuous rows of gas-lamps, you will see one of the most attractive 
thoroughfares in this country or in Europe. Work on the extension of 
the avenue, through the growing Back-bay Park to Brookline Avenue, is 
now progressing. A handsome bridge has been erected on the extension 
over the park water-way. Huntington Avenue, too, in the newer portion of 
the Back-bay District, is destined to be one of the principal ways, and is to 
be adorned according to generous and attractive plans. On this avenue were 
erected in 1881 the extensive permanent exhibition buildings of the Massa- 
chusetts Charitable Mechanics' and the New-England Manufacturers' and 
Mechanics' Associations. 

West Chester Park is not a park, but a street ninety feet wide, which 
crosses Commonwealth Avenue, five blocks west of the Hotel Vendome. 
It was laid out in 1873, and is a pleasant street, with as yet only a few 
houses on the part that runs through the new-made land of the Back Bay. 
It begins at Charles River, and, varying its direction at Falmouth Street, 
runs across the city. Between Tremont Street and Shawmut Avenue it 
broadens into Chester Square, a modest park of one and a third acres. 
East of Washington Street it is called Chester Park. From West Chester 
Park a bridge is to be built to Cambridge, by the Charles-River Embank- 
ment, and Front Street prolonged. This will afford a direct and very pleasant 
route between Harvard College and Boston. At the " South End," Chester 



3^ 



A'/NG'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 




KING'S HANDBOOK OF B0S7VN. ^^ 

Park and Union Park are fine residence streets ; and likewise, besides many 
others, are Newton, Rutland, Concord, and Worcester Streets, which open 
upon beautiful squares. 

One of the most extensive and noteworthy street improvements was the 
laying out of Atlantic Avenue, at a cost of $2,404,078. This is a broad and 
spacious thoroughfare, one hundred feet wide, along the harbor line, at the 
head of the principal wharves, running from the junction of Commercial 
Street and Eastern Avenue to Federal Street. The total cost of the Fort- 
Hill imj^rovement — the levelling of the hill and the laying-out of streets — 
was 11,575,000. 

In South Boston the street-system is quite regular. Dorchester Avenue 
runs directly south from Federal Street in the city proper, through Dorches- 
ter, to Milton Lower Mills. Broadway runs centrally through the territory 
to City Point, and is the principal thoroughfare ; the cross-streets are 
lettered, and many of the streets running parallel with Broadway are num- 
bered. Dorchester Street crosses Broadway at the centre ; and all streets 
west of it have the prefix West, and those east have the prefix East. 

In East Boston the principal thoroughfares are Meridian Street, running 
north and south, and Chelsea Street. Both are intersected by many other 
streets, running for the most part in direct lines across the island. Webster 
Street commands a fine view of Boston Harbor and the city proper, and 
has the most noteworthy private residences of the Island ward. The streets 
are named chiefly for Revolutionary battles or noted poets and artists. 

In the Charlestown district the principal avenues are Main Street, run- 
ning its entire length to " The Charlestown Neck ; " Bunker-hill Street, 
running over Bunker Hill, parallel with Main Street; and Chelsea Street, 
extending from Warren to Chelsea Bridges. The best residences are on 
Monument Square, Breed's Hill, and the streets leading directly therefrom. 
City Square is in the southern section of the district. 

The streets in the Highland district are broad and remarkably attractive, 
winding over the rocky and uneven surface, many of them adorned by 
luxuriant shade-trees, and lined with comfortable, well-built, and often 
elegant residences; the Highlands being sought by those '"well-to-do" 
citizens who desire to establish their homes not too far from "down-town," 
and where the advantages of both city and country can be agreeably com- 
bined. Warren Street, leading to Dorchester, and Walnut Avenue, are the 
principal driveways through the Highlands. A great deal of taste and 
skill are displayed by many residents along these streets, on Norfolk Hill, 
and other sections, in horticultural as well as architectural embellishments. 

The Dorchester district presents many interesting features. It is quite 
rural ; and some of its minor streets lead into most delightful lanes, which 
are much enjoyed by the pedestrian. Here also are fine country resi 



34 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

dences, with grounds made beautiful by the skill of the landscape-gardener; 
and pretty villas, — especially at Savin Hill, a picturesque eminence, with 
water on three sides, and commanding a superb view. Washington Street 
and Dorchester Avenue, Bowdoin, Hancock, and Boston Streets, are the 
principal thoroughfares through this district. 

The streets of the West-Roxbury district are chiefly pleasant country 
driveways, alongside beautiful gardens, ornamental trees, elegant estates, 
and delightful villas. It includes Jamaica Plain, noted for its handsome 
private estates and public buildings ; and Jamaica Pond, a most beautiful 
sheet of water, the ride around which is considered one of the most 
pleasant drives about Boston. 

The Brighton district is reached by Beacon Street, over the Brighton 
Road. Its streets are pleasant and shady; those towards the south and 
west passing over beautiful hills commanding delightful views. The prin- 
cipal drives are to and about the Chestnut-hill Reservoir, a distance of 5^ 
miles from the City Hall. 

The total cost to the city of street widenings, improvements, and new 
streets, from the incorporation of the city in 1822, until 1885, was over 
$36,000,000. The total length of the streets is more than 400 miles. 

The Bridges in and around Boston are quite numerous. Connecting 
the original city with the Charlestown district, there are two bridges, — the 
Charles-river and Warren Bridges. The Charles-river Bridge was the first 
bridge in Boston, and was opened to the public June 17, 1786. It was 
considered at the time one of the greatest enterprises ever undertaken in 
America. It was 1,503 feet long, and cost $50,000. It has been rebuilt and 
considerably enlarged. The Warren Bridge, 1,390 feet long, was completed 
in 1828. West-Boston or Cambridge Bridge, connecting Cambridge with 
Boston, was opened Nov. 23, 1793. The first bridge was 2,758 feet long, 
with an abutment and causeway 3,432 feet long, making a total length of 6,190 
feet ; and its cost was $76,667. This also has been rebuilt and enlarged. 
East Cambridge is connected by Cragie's Bridge, formerly called Canal 
Bridge, 2,796 feet in length, which was opened in 1809. A lateral bridge 
extends from this to Prison Point, Charlestown district, 1,820 feet in length. 
The first bridge to South Boston was from the "Neck" at Dover Street, 
1,550 feet long. It cost $50,000, and was opened in 1805. A second bridge, 
at the foot of Federal Street, 500 feet long, was completed in 1828. The old 
Dover-street Bridge has been replaced by a spacious and substantial struc- 
ture ; and a magnificent iron structure, known as the Broadway Bridge, 
was completed in 1872. There are also the Mount Washington Avenue, and 
the Congress-street Bridges, over Fort-Point Channel. East Boston is con- 
nected with the city proper by three ferries. Two bridges connect East Bos- 
ton and Chelsea, — the Chelsea-street Brid<2:e and the Meridian-street Bridore. 



AVA'G'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



35 



In the Charlestown district is a long bridge to Chelsea, which has recently 
been rebuilt ; and from near Charlestown Neck, a long bridge to Everett, 
formerly South Maiden. In the Back-bay district of the city proper, are 
several bridges over the railroads, built at much expense. Saratoga-street 
bridge extends to Breed's Island, a part of East Boston, in Ward I., and 
leads also to Winthrop. Six bridges connect the Brighton district with 
Watertown and Cambridge, and four bridges connect the Dorchester district 
with Milton and Quincy. 

The Public Sewers in Boston are 230 miles in length. In 1884 the 
sewer department expended $325,000, and built 14 miles of sewers. In 
August, 1877, the city council authorized the construction of an improved 
system of sewerage, at a cost of $3,713,000; and additional appropriations of 
nearly $2,000,000 have since been made. Up to Dec. 26, 1884, $5,167,760 
had been expended. It was finished in 1884, with 13 miles of intercepting 
sewers, a pumping-station and pumps, a reservoir, and a tunnel under Dor- 
chester Bay. The pumping-station is at Old Harbor Point ; and the outlet 
is at Moon Head, in Boston Harbor, whence the sewage is swept far out 
to sea. 

The Street-Railway System in Boston, although controlled by a few com- 
panies, is nevertheless quite extensive and admirably conducted. The lively 
competition of the various companies causes each one to put forward the 
best accommodations that can be given. The cars are generally first-class, 
and many may justly be called palace-cars. Almost every part of the city 
and its vicinity can be reached by a ride in the street-cars. They are 
always to be found at every railroad depot and almost every steamboat wharf ; 
and the economical traveller can always be sure of transportation from his 
place of arrival to his place of destination, if not by one direct ride, at most 
by one transfer. More than 210 miles of track are operated by the various 
corporations mentioned below. 

The Metropolitan Railroad Company is the oldest of the eight compa- 
nies that own the street railways of Boston, and it operates the most exten- 
sive line. The wages alone amount to $750,000 per annum. Its capital 
stock is $1,500,000 Although incorporated in 1853, the company ran no 
cars over its tracks until 1856; and then the object was only to accommodate, 
travel between the present Scollay Square and the South End and Roxbury. 
Lines of omnibuses, known as " King's " and " Hathorne's," were in exist- 
ence, and were purchased and run for a long time by this company. Its 
cars run to different sections of the city proper and East Boston, and by 
way of Washington and Tremont Streets to the Highlands, Dorchester, 
Milton Lower Mills, Forest Hills. Jamaica Plain, and Brookline. 

The Highland Street-Railway Company, organized in 1872, is a com- 
petitor with the Metropolitan road. Its paid-up capital-stock is $750,000. 



36 



A'/NG'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



Its routes extend to the Highlands via Shawmut and Columbus Avenues, 
and Hampden Street, to Mount Pleasant, Grove Hall, and Oakland Garden. 

The Cambridge Railway Company operates lines running to Harvard 
College, Mount-Auburn Cemetery, and other parts of Old Cambridge, East 
Cambridge, the Brighton District, Allston, Arlington, Watertown, and Som- 
erville. It leases also the Arlington and Somerville lines. Its Boston 
termini are Bowdoin, Park, and Scollay Squares. 

The Charles-River Railroad runs from Park and Bowdoin Squares, in 
Boston, to various points in Cambridge, Somerville, and Boston. 

The Middlesex Railroad Company operates lines running through the 
streets of Boston, from the Old Colon}- and Boston and Albany Railroad 
Depots to the Charlestown district; to Union Square, and to Winter Hill, 
Somerville, to Everett, and to Maiden and Medford. Its capital stock is 
$650,000. 

The South-Boston Railroad has a capital stock of $750,000, and its cars 
run chiefly to South Boston and City Point. 

The Lynn and Boston Railroad runs to Chelsea, Revere (Revere Beach 
in summer), Saugus, Lynn, and Swampscott. It leases the Winnisimmet 
and Boston and Chelsea lines. Capital, $300,000. 

The Railroad Commissioners of Massachusetts are Thomas Russell, 
Edward W. Kinsley, and Everett A. Stevens. From their report, dated 
January, 1885, are compiled the following statistics: — 



Name of Company. 


Miles 

of 
Track. 


No. of Pas- 
sengers car- 
ried in 1884. 


No. of 
Hor.ses. 


No. of 
Cars. 


No. of 
Men em- 
ployed 


Divi- 
dends, 
1881. 


Total 
Property. 


Metropolitan ... 


78 


34,574>i35 


3'i83 


664 


1,499 


8'^ 


$3,881,191 75 


Highland 


19 


10,452,441 


909 


179 


356 


8'/ 


1,340,546 20 


Middlesex .... 


18 


7,099,892 


601 


136 


275 


t:^ 


1,355,812 83 


South Boston . . . 


13 


9,706,299 


857 


193 


349 


S'.c 


963,631 24 


Lynn and Boston 


- 35 


6,364,009 


608 


134 


259 


8^^ 


669,580 19 


Cambridge .... 


44 


11,949,698 


1,435 


245 


497 


3:« 


2,280,943 66 


Charles-River . . . 


11 


2,446,152. 


276 


48 


131 


- 


368,646 00 



The Elevated Railroad System will doubtless gain a foothold in Boston. 
In the autumn of 1878, the first petitions for charters were filed for tlic 
Legislature by two different associations, the Boston Elevated Railroad 
Company and the Metropolitan Elevated Railroad Company. Since then 
several more unavailing petitions have been filed and heard. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 37 



Wi)t 9[rms of tijc (STttu, 

THE RAILROADS, STEAMSHIPS, SHIPPING, -AND WHARVES 
OF BOSTON. 

THE steam-railroad was introduced in Massachusetts at a time when the 
commercial interests of Boston were suffering from the results of im- 
provements and enterprises directly in the interest of New-York City, and 
when the far-sighted citizens of Boston were greatly concerned, if not 
alarmed, for her future as a commercial centre. While Boston had poor and 
slow facilities for reaching distant points except by sea. New York, by her 
steamers making daily voyages to Providence, to the Connecticut River, to 
New Haven, and to ports on the Hudson lying near the western border of 
Massachusetts, had direct and regular intercourse with about half the State 
of Massachusetts. By way of the Blackstone Canal from Providence to 
Worcester she reached the heart of the Commonwealth, while Boston had 
no such communication with Worcester ; and by way of a canal from North- 
ampton to Nev/ Haven she had largely drawn to herself the trade of the 
Connecticut Valley. The costly Middlesex Canal, leading from Boston north 
almost to the New-Hampshire line, and modest improvements in the con- 
struction of locks for fostering a very limited traffic by flat-boats on the Mer- 
rimack and the Connecticut Rivers, had disappointed public expectation; 
and Boston's chief system of internal communication consisted of numerous 
lines of stage-coaches and baggage-wagons ; the former capable of making 
a journey of 100 miles in a day of eighteen hours, and the latter making 
the round trip of 100 miles and back, once a fortnight, with a carrying 
capacity of only four or five tons. Such were the rapid modes of travel 
and transj^ortation out from Boston, when the practicability of the railroad 
was discovered and demonstrated in England ; and, as soon as learned of 
and fully comprehended here, its introduction into Massachusetts was 
promptly urged and pressed by the most energetic and public-spirited men 
of Boston, as the solution of the problem of internal improvement by 
which successful competition with New York, and the enlargement of the 
business and trade of the city, could best be secured. A scheme which 
had long been agitated for the establishment of a canal from Boston to 
Worcester, for the purpose of counteracting the Blackstone, and another 
for opening a line of navigation by way of Miller's River to the Connecti- 
cut, and thence by tunnelling the Hoosac Mountain to the Hudson, were 



38 KING'S nANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

abandoned, by some who had been among their most ardent advocates, and 
their energies directed towards securing the railroad. It must be confessed, 
however, that men of capital sufficient to test the experiment on a broad 
and generous scale were slow to recognize its advantages ; and the public 
received the announcement of this improvement as adapted to meet its 
wants with what, at this day, appears as surprising incredulity. 

At length, after much discussion in the newspapers, pamphlets, and 
public meetings, the legislature in 1827 was influenced to authorize a com- 
mission to cause surveys to be made of the most practicable routes for a 
railroad from Boston to the Hudson River at or near Albany. The next 
legislature, upon the report of these commissioners, established a board of 
directors of internal improvement, consisting of twelve members, and appro- 
priated a fund to pay the expenses of surveys and plans ; and under their 
direction surveys were made for a railroad from Boston to the Hudson River, 
and for three entire routes from Boston to Providence. The board reported 
in the winter of 1829, recommending that a com_mencement of railroads be 
made in both directions, — to the Hudson River and to Providence, — at the 
expense of the State. But the legislature declined to make any appropria- 
tion. In succeeding sessions several private charters were granted; but 
nothing was accomplished by these at once, the subscriptions to stock com- 
ing forward slowly. In 183 1 the Boston and Providence, the Boston and 
Worcester, and the Boston and Lowell corporations were organized, the 
charter of the latter having been granted the year before ; and the construc- 
tion of all three roads was begun the following year. The subscriptions to 
the stock of the Boston and Worcester road were made conditionally, with 
the reservation of the right of the subscribers to withdraw on receiving the 
report of definite surveys and estimates; and were mostly by business men 
desirous of establishing, ultimately, a western railroad which should extend 
to the Hudson River. A great part of the stock of the Boston and Provi- 
dence was taken by New-York capitalists, and much of that of the Boston 
and Lowell by stockholders in the mills of Lowell. The Boston and 
Worcester was partially opened for public travel in April, 1834, and opened 
throughout on July 4, the following year; the Boston and Providence in 
part in June, 1834, and throughout in June, 1835; and the Boston and 
Lowell in June, 1835. These roads were built by engineers who had never 
seen the English works ; and, though they adopted the general principles on 
which those were built, they by no means directly copied them, making in 
some particulars radical changes, as, for instance, adopting cross-ties of 
wood in lieu of stone blocks, as "sleepers," and admitting higher grades. 
The Boston and Lowell, however, did lay their track in part on granite 
sleepers. At first the locomotives were imported from England; but very 
soon works for their manufacture were established here, a locomotive of 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



39 



American make being placed on the Worcester road within its first year, 
proving a valuable and altogether serviceable engine. 

Once firmly established, the great advantage of the railroad over the 
canal and other modes of transportation and travel of that day was recog- 
nized by all ; and the system was rapidly enlarged and extended, through 
the indomitable enterprise of citizens of Boston, until in 1851 seven trunk- 
lines, extending to the limits of the State, had been completed, with numer- 
ous branches, connecting with main lines in and passing through other 
States, opening channels of easy intercourse with distant parts of the coun- 
try in all directions; the last trunk-line finished connecting the St. Lawrence 
at its two most important points, Ogdensburg in New York, and Montreal 
in Canada, directly with the port of Boston. At that time a great railroad 
jubilee was held, lasting three days, at which the president of the United 
States, Millard Fillmore, and the governor-general of Canada, Lord Elgin, 
were present, with the members of their cabinets, and other distinguished 
men. By the Grand Junction Railroad, — the completion of which was a mat- 
ter for special congratulation at the jubilee, much being expected from it, — 
the Eastern, Maine, Fitchburg, and Lowell roads were connected for freight, 
and brought to tide-water at East Boston : here ample wharf and storage 
room was provided, built in the most convenient and substantial manner, 
so that cars from the interior could be brought into immediate connection 
with vessels from every port, and the freight of the ship directly exchanged 
for that of the cars. The seven trunk-lines — the Worcester, Providence, 
Lowell, Eastern, Maine, Fitchburg, and Old Colony — had cost, when the 
great jubilee was held, nearly $53,000,000, yielded an income of over 
$6,500,000, and covered nearly 1,100 miles. The entire length of railroad 
situated, in whole or in part, in Massachusetts, at that time, was 1,41 14 
miles, at an aggregate cost of $60,992,183, affording a gross income of 
$7,445,961 ; and the entire cost of the railroads in the New-England States 
then operated exceeded $100,000,000. Bostonians, besides their interest in 
their home roads, had large investments in railroads in the West; and it 
was estimated, at the time of the jubilee, that $50,000,000 of railroad invest- 
ments were held in Boston. 

Such had been the growth of the railroad-system at the time of the great 
jubilee. But from that time to the present its further development has been 
quite as remarkable. It has been the means of building up many suburban 
cities and towns, by affording quick and frequent transit ; and, for distant 
communication, it has been so extended and broadened that now the city 
is one of the great leading depots of commerce, in sharp competition with 
the other large cities ; its railway lines reaching out in every direction, 
connecting with the magnificent systems of railways that unite the East and 
the Great West. 



40 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



The Boston and Providence, the second railroad opened from Boston, 
enjoys the distinction of being one of the most completely appointed rail- 
roads in the United States. The road proper, from Boston to Providence, 
is 44 miles, and the branches and leased lines are 23^ miles in length. The 
road runs the fastest train, as by regular schedule, between terminal points, 
of any road in the United States. This, the Shore-line express-train to 
New York, which leaves Boston at i p.m., arrives at Providence at 2 p.m. 
The 6.30 P.M. express-train carries large numbers of passengers to Stoning- 
ton, who there take the famous Stonington-line steamers for New York. 




Bostnn and Providence Railroad Depot, Colun-bu. Avenue. 

These steamers are some of the finest ever built. The Boston and Provi- 
dence Railroad constitutes an important part of the all-rail "Shore-line 
route" between Boston and New York, via Providence, New London, and 
New Haven, the terminal stations being the two finest in this country. The 
New-York station is the Grand Central. The Boston station, situated on 
Columbus Avenue, is the most convenient and comfortable, as well as most 
beautiful, architecturally speaking, in the United States ; and it is the long- 
est in the world, being 850 feet from end to end. The portion assigned 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON 



4J 



to the accommodation, of passengers contains large and pleasant waiting- 
rcoms, dining, reading, billiard, and smoking rooms, a barber-shop, and 
wash-rooms, all finished and equipped in a style equalled only by our best 
hotels. Upon the walls of the passenger-rooms are painted an index of 
stations and distances, and maps of the country passed through by this road 
and its connections. On the second floor are the offices of the company, 
which are approached from a gallery running around the grand central hall, 
one of the finest and most effective features of the building. Out of this 
hall open the waiting-rooms and other apartments described above. The 
train-house is 600 feet long and 130 feet Avide ; and its great iron trasses 
cover five tracks and three platforms. The entrance forms a fine feature of 
the facade ; and at the Columbus-avenue corner is a lofty tower, with a large 
illuminated clock. The cost of this station was $800,000. The president 
is Henry A. Whitney ; and the superintendent, Albert A. Folsom. 

The Boston and Albany Railroad succeeded the Boston and Worcester 
road, and forms one continuous line to the Hudson River, so long desired 
and contemplated, at the very beginning, in the railroad enterprises conceived 
by Boston men. The Boston and Albany Railroad Company was formed in 
1869 by the consolidation of the Worcester and Western Railroads with all 
their branches and leased lines ; the Western road having been opened from 
Worcester to the Connecticut River eight years after the opening of the 
Worcester road, and to the State line two years later. The length of the 
main line, with double track, is 201.65 miles; and the total length of hne 
owned, leased, and operated is 375-7o. It now owns and operates the Grand 
Junction Railroad and its extensive and finely-equipped wharves at East 
Boston, the completion of which did not at the time realize the expectations 
of its projectors ; and for 14 years immediately preceding its purchase it was 
practically abandoned. This has been connected with its main line, and has 
thus secured a deep-water connection. It affords ample facilities for unload- 
ing the foreign steamers ; moves large numbers of immigrants, in a prompt 
and comfortable manner, saving them from the danger and confusion of a 
passage through the city, and protecting them from sharpers; and altogether 
does an immense business through this enterprise. It also owns and oper- 
ates a substantial grain-elevator here, with a capacity of 1,000,000 bushels; 
and another on the corner of Chandler and Berkeley Streets, with a capacity 
of about 500,000 bushels, its object being the supply of the city trade. The 
average annual dividends of the Boston and Albany have been 10 per cent 
until within a few years, when the general depression of business through- 
out the country has reduced them to 8 per cent. 

In regard to length, equipment, and amount of passenger and freight 
traffic, this has been for many years far in advance of the other railroads 
entering Boston ; but until recently its station in this city was not in keep- 



42 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



ing with the importance of the road. Sept. i, 1881, however, a new and 
elegant depot was completed, which takes its place among the best in this 
country. It occupies the block bounded by Kneeland, Lincoln, and Utica 
Streets ; the entrance being through two large porticos on Kneeland Street. 
The front is chiefly of pressed brick, with heavy granite trimmings. The 
main structure — 118^ by 140 feet — contains a vestibule, 42 by 120 feet, 
and 42 feet high, which is amply lighted in the daytime by a skylight cover- 
ing the whole inner court. On one side is the ladies' waiting-room, 35 by 75 




Boston and Albany Depot, Kneeland Street. 

feet, handsomely and comfortably furnished, and provided with three large 
fireplaces fifteen feet in height, built of McGregor freestone ; toilet-rooms 
and ticket-office. On the other side is the gentlemen's room, 35 by 38 feet; 
it, too, being handsomely fitted up. By its side is the news-stand and Arm- 
strong's dining-rooriis, — a model of convenience and elegance. The second 
story is used for the company's offices. A mezzanine story contains the 
treasurer's vault, rooms for depot-master and porters, and a laundry and culi- 
nary department. The third story is used by numerous clerks of the com- 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 43 

pany. The train-house is 444 feet long and 1 18 J- feet wide. It opens directly 
into the vestibule ; and its tracks are numbered from i to 6 inclusive, with 
capacity of from four to seven cars. On the sides of the tracks are inward 
and outward baggage-rooms, and accommodations for persons coming and 
going in hacks and other vehicles. The train and passenger rooms are 
lighted by electricity. The architect was Alexander R. Esty. The presi- 
dent of the road is William Bliss ; the general manager, W. H. Barnes ; the 
general superintendent, Edward Gallup. 

The Boston and Lowell Railroad is now the initial line of a system of 
roads extending northward, and forming a continuous line to the White and 
Franconia Mountains, to all parts of New Hampshire and Vermont, and to 
Montreal, Quebec, and all Canadian points. The Boston and Lowell formed 
a combination with the Nashua and Lowell Railroad in January, 1857, for 
the joint operation of the main roads and branches. On this basis the 
length of line directly operated by this company was 133 miles. This combi- 
nation came to an end in December, 1878 ; but in October, 1880, the Nashua 
road was leased by the Lowell for 99 years. In 1884 it leased for 99 years 
the Boston, Concord, and Montreal Railroad, the Northern New Hampshire 
Railroad, and several minor connecting" roads, thereby increasing its mileage 
to 558 miles. From its opening to the year 1875, the company's yearly divi- 
dends have varied from 2 to 8 per cent. The largest dividend was paid in 
1873. None were paid between 1875 "^^^ ^^77i but payment was resumed 
in 1878. In 1884 a regular dividend of 5 per cent was declared. The pres- 
ent passenger-station in this city was JDuilt in 1871, on a large scale, in an- 
ticipation of the extension of the business of the line, and is 700 feet long, 
having a front of 205 feet on Causeway Street. In the centre of the head- 
house is a magnificent and lofty marble-paved hall, finished in hard wood. 
Out of this open large and well-appointed waiting-rooms, a restaurant, 
bundle-rooms, baggage-rooms, a barber's shop, etc. The train-house is 
broad, spacious, and long; and its great arch has a clear span of 120 feet. 
The building material of the station is face brick, with trimmings of Nova- 
Scotia freestone. Its appearance and convenience were greatly improved in 
1878 by the addition of two broad entrances in the front. The building is 
flanked by two massive towers, the westerly one being much taller than the 
other. The company's general offices are in this station. The manager of 
the Boston and Lowell is Edwin Morey; the general superintendent, C. S. 
Mellen ; and the general passenger and ticket agent, Lucius Tuttle. 

The Boston, Concord, and Montreal Railroad is connected directly with 
the Boston, Lowell, and Concord combination, entering Boston over its 
tracks, and enjoying its terminal facilities. By its connections in the White- 
Mountain region it brings that section into direct communication with the 
great trunk-lines, and making it accessible from all directions. Much of its 



44 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



stock is owned in Boston. Tliis line was leased by the Boston and Lowell 
Railroad in 18S4. 

The Central Massachusetts Railroad Company was organized in 1869, 
under a special charter to build a line from the town of Williamsburg to a 
point at or near Stony-Brook Station on the Fitchburg Railroad (12 miles 
from Boston), a distance of about 100 miles. The purpose of the projectors 
was to construct a railroad through the central portion of the State, about 
midway between the Boston and Albany and Fitchburg roads, and to con- 
nect with the latter at Stony Brook. The idea of building from Williams- 
burg was abandoned at an early period; and in 1871-72 the line was finally 
located between Northampton and Stony Brook, following closely the sur- 
vey made many years before for the proposed extension of the Erie Canal 
from Albany to Boston. The capital stock was fixed at $3,000,000, of which 
$812,000 was subscribed by the towns along the line : and in 1872 a contract 
was made with Norman C. Munson of Shirley for its construction and equip- 
ment. Mr. Munson began work at once, and pushed it so rapidly that by 
the autumn of 1873 about one-half of the line was completed, at a cost of 
about $2,600,000. In March, 1873, the railroad property and franchise were 
mortgaged to Jacob H. Loud, Franklin Haven, and Thomas Talbot, trustees, 
as security for $2,700,000 of 7 per cent currency bonds which it was pro- 
posed to issue. Negotiations for the sale of these bonds were nearly 
concluded when the financial panic of September, 1873, came. These nego- 
tiations being thus broken off, and it being found impossible to prosecute 
the work on the road, further operations were suspended. In 1875, with the 
completion of the Hoosac Tunnel, came the idea of extending the Massa- 
chusetts Central to form a part of a through line from Boston to the West. 
In 1879 "^"^ ^ct was obtained from the Legislature authorizing the extension 
of the road from Amherst — 7 miles east of Northampton — to a junction 
with the Troy and Greenfield Railroad of the Hoosac-Tunnel line ; and 
also providing for the extension easterly from Stony Brook to an intersection 
with the Boston and Lowell Railroad at North Cambridge, about 4^ miles 
from Boston. After the passage of this act. all the bonds issued under the 
mortgage of 1873, amounting to $1,494,000, were retired, and tlie mortgage 
was cancelled. A new mortgage was executed in January, 1880, to George 
R. Chapman, Franklin Haven, and Thomas Talbot, trustees, to secure the 
payment of $3,500,000, 6 per cent gold bonds, dated Jan. i, 1880, and due in 
20 years thereafter; and a new contract for the completion of the road was 
made with Mr. Munson. The capital stock of the company was also 
increased to $3,500,000. Of the new bonds, $1,500,000 were purchased by a 
syndicate composed of some of the strongest parties in Boston ; and in Feb- 
ruary, 1 88 1, $1,000,000 more were sold in the market at nearly par. The 
company re-located a portion of its road, abandoning a large amount of work 




THE BOSTON AND LOWELL RAILROAD DEPOT, 
Causeway Street, Corner of Nashua. 



46 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON 

between Barre and Belchertown, and taking a new line running through the 
towns of Hardwick, Ware, and Pahner. This change shortens the distance 
and reduces the grades, and also brings the railroad into several large 
manufacturing villages, which will add considerably to its earnings. The 
contractor, Mr. Munson, resumed work in the winter of 1878-79, and in 
May, 1882, had the rails laid from the junction with the Boston and Lowell 
to Jefferson's (48 miles from Boston); from Jefferson's to Ware, 26^ miles, 
the grading and masonry are nearly completed; and from Bondville to 
Northampton, 21^ miles, a large percentage of the grading and masonry 
are also completed, though from Ware to Bondville, 7^0 miles, little work 
has been done. 

Aside from the through business via the Hoosac Tunnel, the road trav- 
erses a section of the State, the population and valuation of which are nearly 
double that along the line of the Fitchburg Railroad ; and it will give a 
direct communication east and west to a large manufacturing interest located 
upon the various streams between Hudson and Amherst. There will also 
be a large business from the dairies at and near Barre, and points east of 
that town. The line crosses and connects with the following roads: the 
Fitchburg; Framingham and Lowell; Boston, Clinton, and Fitchburg; 
Worcester and Nashua; Boston, Barre, and Gardner; Ware-river; Spring- 
field and North-eastern; New-London Northern; Connecticut-river; New 
Haven and Northampton; and Troy and Greenfield. It will bring a large 
population into direct communication with points east and west heretofore 
to be reached only by the lateral roads which connect with the Fitchburg on 
the north, and the Boston and Albany on the south. From Boston to Hud- 
son on the new line is 28 miles, via the Fitchburg 34; to Barre, 63, against 
107 by the old route; to Ware, 'j^, instead of 95 ; to Amherst, 97, instead 
of 103; and to Northampton, 103, instead of 115. In the spring of 1883 
the running of trains on the Massachusetts Central Railroad was stopped, 
and the property was abandoned and left in disuse. Its rails are now rust- 
ing throughout the country-side, waiting for the -coming again of good times, 
when great trains may again rush over their iron ways. 

The Old-Colony Railroad Company was chartered March 16, 1844, to 
build and operate a railroad from Boston to Plymouth ; and the road was 
opened for travel at the close of the following year. The present Old- 
Colony Railroad Company has absorbed tlie Old-Colony and Fall-River 
railroad companies, the Fall-River and Newport, the Cape-Cod, the Vine- 
yard-Sound, the South-shore, the Duxbury and Cohasset, the Middle- 
borough and Taunton, the Dorchester and Milton, the Boston, Clinton, 
Fitchburg, and New-Bedford, and Framingham and Lowell Railroads. The 
main line, from Boston to Plymouth, Provincetown, and Newport, is 249.89 
miles in length ; and with its various branches it controls and operates in all 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



47 



475 miles of rail-lines, together with 225 miles of steamship routes ; making 
a total of 700 miles of land and water routes. The main line runs through 
some of the largest manufacturing towns of Eastern Massachusetts, — 
Brockton, the Bridgewaters, Easton, Taunton, New Bedford, and Fall River. 
Provincetown, one terminus of its main line, is the farthest seaward point 
of Cape Cod. The northern division extends from Taunton to Attle- 
borough, Mansfield, Framingham, Clinton, Fitchburg, and Lowell. A 
branch also reaches to Wood's Holl, whence steamer connection is made 
to Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. Other branches extend to Nantasket, 
Hingham, and Cohasset, famous summer resorts on the South Shore; to 
Marshfield, ^^^ ^ 

the old home 
of Daniel 
Webster; to 
D u X b u r y, 
where the 
American end 
of one of the 
Atlantic ca- 
bles is held ; 
and to other 
places of in- 
terest and im- 
portance. As 
the "land 
end '" of the 
renowned 
Fall ^ River 
line to New 
York, with its 
magni ficent 
steamers the 

"Bristol'' and "Providence," as yet unapproached in size or grandeur by 
any in the world, the Old-Colony road is widely and favorably known. These 
boats cost $1,250,000 each, and have carried more than 2,000,000 passengers. 
They are being constantly improved, and to-day are as attractive and in- 
viting as when first launched. The " Pilgrim," a marvellous iron steam- 
boat, with every comfort and luxury, was recently built at a cost of over 
$1,000,000. She is larger than the " Bristol," being 390 feet long; and has 
a double hull of iron, with over 100 water-tight compartments. Her normal 
rate of speed is 20 miles an hour. The Old-Colony has for many years paid 
a regular 6 per cent dividend. In the years 1873-75 it declared 7 per cent, 




Old-Colony Railroad Depot, Kneeland Street 



48 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON 

and now pays 7 per cent. The passenger-station in this city is on Kneeland 
and South Streets. 

In 1876 the Old-Colony acquired control of the Union Freight Railway 
in this city, which is practically the distributer of freight from the railways 
to the wharves of the city, for lading steamships and other vessels. By the 
aid of this railway, an elevator, and dummy engines, a European steamship 
can be loaded in 24 hours. The Union Freight was first operated in 1872, 
and during the year conveys between 150,000 and 200,000 tons. The charge 
per car is $4. Its tracks run to Constitution, T, Lewis's, Eastern-avenue, 
Commercial, Union, and Central Wharves. The line is 2.45 miles long, 
and extends from the Boston and Lowell to the Old-Colony tracks. The 
president of the Old-Colony road is Charles F. Choate ; and the general 
manager, J. R. Kendrick. 

The Fitchburg Railroad Company was chartered March 3, 1842, and was 
opened for travel to Waltham, Dec. 20, 1843; to Concord Junction, June 17, 
1844; and to Fitchburg, March 5, 1845. I^ '^ow operates the Vermont and 
Massachusetts Railroad, extending from Fitchburg to Greenfield, under a 
lease of 999 years. Under a seven-years' agreement, dated Aug. 14, 1880, 
it operates, for the actual cost of operation, the 44 miles of the Troy and 
Greentield Railroad and Hoosac Tunnel between Greenfield and North 
Adams, at which point it connects with the Troy and Boston Railroad, and 
the New-York Central Railroad system, and the Boston, Hoosac Tunnel, 
and Western Railway and Erie system. The Hoosac Tunnel Dock and 
Elevator Compan)^, whose property is located in Charlestown, and in which 
the Fitchburg Railroad is the largest stockholder, will have, when com- 
pleted, four docks, each 500 feet long, and of width from roo to 149 feet, 
besides a shorter dock ; also four piers of different width, on which three 
extensive two-story warehouses will be built ; also room in the main docks for 
four large ocean-steamers ; also room for small steamers and sailing-vessels 
in the shorter dock and end berths. The line of the main road to Fitchburg 
is 50 miles, and from Fitchburg to Greenfield 56 miles ; and length of road 
owned, leased, and operated, 193 miles. For 20 years it paid a regulars 
per cent dividend. In 1877, however, owing to the depressed times, the 
dividend dropped to 6 per cent, but has since advanced to 7 per cent, and 
has again dropped to 6 per cent. The passenger-station in the city, on 
Causeway Street, is a massive structure of undressed granite, looking in 
front more like a grim old casde than a railway-station, and was built in 1847. 
In it was once a large hall where the famous Jenny Lind concerts were given 
in 1850 under the management of P. T. Barnum. The interior of the station 
has been several times re-arranged and remodelled, and it is now quite con- 
venient. Trains enter on one side, and depart on the other. The president of 
the company is the Hon. E. B. Phillips: tlie traffic manager, Jolm Wliitmore; 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



49 



the general superintendent of the road, John Adams ; and the chief engineer, 
E. K. Turner. 

The Boston and Maine Railroad was formed by the consolidation, Jan. 
I, 1842, of the Boston and Portland Railroad, chartered in Massachusetts in 
1833; the Boston and Maine, chartered in New Hampshire in 1835; and 
the Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts, chartered in Maine in 1836. 
The consolidated road was opened to the junction with the Portland, Saco, 
and Portsmouth, at South Berwick, Me., in 1843. The latter road, up to 
July, 1 87 1, was leased to and operated by the Boston and Maine and the 
Eastern roads jointly. In 1873 the Boston and Maine was opened to Port- 
land. The main line, from Boston to Portland, is 115.5 miles long; and, in 
addition, the company operates (including the Eastern Railroad) 377.79 miles 




Boston and Maine Railroad Depot, Haymarket Square. 

of branches and leased lines ; the total length of line owned, leased, and 
operated, being 493.29 miles. The main line passes through one of the 
most thickly settled portions of New England. There are 42 cities, towns, 
and villages between Boston and Portland, many of them being devoted to 
manufacturing interests. The dividends paid since 1880 have been 8 per 
cent; the average dividend since October, 1838, being '].^ per cent. The 
passenger-station in this city is on Haymarket Square, at the foot of Wash- 
ington Street, occupying a most prominent position. !t was built long ago ; 
but it has been extended, re-arranged, and improved internally, so that it is 
now convenient, light, and cheerful. The president of the Boston and 
Maine Railroad is George C. Lord, and the general manager is James T. 
Furber. 

The Eastern Division of the Boston and Maine Railroad was chartered, 
under the name of the Eastern Railroad Company, April 14, 1836, to build 
a road from East Boston to the New-Hampshire line ; and this was com- 



50 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

pletecl Nov. 9, 1840. The main line now runs, through consolidation with 
other roads, from Boston to Portland, and from Conway Junction to North 
Conway, N.H., 180 miles in all, with branches of 104.95 miles in length; the 
total length of Hnes connected with the Eastern Division being 284.95 miles. 
For many years the Eastern Railroad Company prospered; but after 1873 it 
did not pay a dividend, and passed through a most trying ordeal. Since 
1876 thorough repairs have been made in almost all portions of the road; 
and the rolling-stock has been increased, being paid for from the earnings. 
Geographically, the location of the line is all that can be desired. This 
route is one of the favorite modes of reaching the White Mountains ; and 
it there connects with the Portland and Ogdensburg, running through the 
midst of the mountains. The Gloucester branch, from Beverly, through 
Beverly Farms, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Magnolia, and Gloucester, to Rock- 
port, is one of the best feeders of the Eastern Division, the summer travel 
along it being very heavy. The Boston passenger-station of the Eastern 
Division of the Boston and Maine Railroad is on Causeway Street, between 
the stations of the Lowell and Fitchburg roads. It was built in 1863, after 
the destruction by fire of the former station, and is small and crowded. 
What space it affords is, however, well utilized; and the waiting-rooms 
are convenient and well arranged. It is of brick, with a central tower, 
upon which is a clock. In December, 1884, the Eastern Railroad was 
leased to the Boston and Maine Railroad, and is now known as the Eastern 
Di-vision of the Boston and Maine Railroad, and is operated by that com- 
pany, which now commands both of the great routes from Boston to the 
eastward. 

The New- York and New-England Railroad Company succeeded, in 
1873, to all the property and rights of the Boston, Hartford, and Erie Rail- 
road Company, which had itself absorbed the Norfolk-county Railroad, the 
Southbridge and Blackstone, the Midland, the Hartford, Providence, and 
Fishkill, and the road from Brooklihe to Woonsocket. It now owns and 
operates a railroad from Boston and Providence, through Willimantic and 
Hartford, to Fishkill-on-the-Hudson, connecting there with the Erie Railway ; 
from Brookline, Mass., to Woonsocket, R.I.; and branches to Southbridge, 
Dedham, Springfield, Mass., and Rockville, Conn. It also operates under 
leases the Norwich and Worcester Railroad from Worcester to Norwich and 
Allyn's Point, and thereby controls an independent Sound line of steamers 
to New York; the Rhode-Island and Massachusetts Railroad, from Frank- 
lin to Valley Falls, making a direct line from Boston to Providence without 
change of cars. The railroad and steamboat lines under its control aggre- 
gate 579 miles. By means of the transfer steamer " Maryland," running 
between Harlem River and Jersey City, trains with Pullman sleeping-cars 
are run through to Philadelphia and Washington every day, starting from 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 51 

the depot on Atlantic Avenue at the foot of Summer Street every evening. 
Freight is transported by the "Maryland" without breaking bulk; and, by 
connection with the Pennsylvania Railroad at Jersey City, a large amount of 
through Western business is done over the New- York and New-England 
road. This road, starting as it does from three of the largest New-England 
cities, — Boston, Providence, and Worcester, — with good connections for 
the West, its all-rail and Sound lines for passengers and freight to New 
York, and its superior terminal facilities at tide-water here, has certainly 
a bright future. The road is now being run very successfully by a receiver, 
Charles P. Clark. 

The Boston, Revere-Beach, and Lynn Railroad is a narrow-gauge road 
running from East Boston (connected with the city proper by ferries that 
start from Atlantic Avenue at the foot of High Street) to Lynn, along the 
crest of Revere Beach, and by the great summer-resort at the Point of Pines. 
This magnificent beach, almost five miles long, is dotted at short intervals 
with hotels, many of which have gained such reputations that thousands of 
people are attracted to them daily in the summer season. Trains run hourly 
during the day and evening, and carry a large number of passengers, travel- 
ling for pleasure. The three-feet gauge is admirably adapted to the purposes 
of the road. The Boston, Winthrop, and Point Shirley road connects with 
this road at Winthrop Junction, and runs thence to the watering-place of 
Ocean Spray in the town of Winthrop. Edwin Walden is president ; John 
A. Fenno, general ticket-agent ; and C. A. Hammond, superintendent. 

The Railway Clearing-House Association was organized in May, 1878, 
for the purpose of keeping a complete record of the movements of all cars 
on the New-England railroads, and to provide for the settlement of bal- 
ances for car-service between the different railroad companies. Its affairs 
are administered by an executive committee elected by the railroad compa- 
nies of New England ; the operating expenses being shared by the com- 
panies in the association, on the basis of the total mileage of cars on each 
road. The movements of foreign cars coming into New England, as well 
as those of the New-England roads, are recorded daily ; and by means of 
these records any one of the thousands of freight-cars scattered throughout 
New England can be located at once. At the close of the month, the mileage 
is computed, and reported to the owners of the cars. A system of reports 
from roads west of the Hudson River has been adopted, by which the mile- 
age due the New-England roads is ascertained, and the balances are adjusted. 
This work necessarily involves an immense amount of detail, the mileage 
aggregating about 25,000,000 miles each month ; and over sixty clerks are 
kept constantly employed. The offices are in the passenger-depot of the 
Boston and Lowell Railroad. The present manager, E. B. Hill, was the 
originator of this enterprise. 



52 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



The Railroad Business of Boston is shown in the following table, com- 
piled from the Massachusetts State Commissioners' reports for the year 
ending Dec. 31, 1884: — 



Railroads. 



Loco- 
motives. 



Passenger- 
Cars. 



Baggage, 

Express, and 

Mail Cars. 



Freight and 
other Cars. 



Passengers 
carried. 



Tons 
of freight 
carried. 



Boston and Albany 

Boston and Providence 

Boston and Lowell . 

Old Colony . . . 

Fitchburg .... 

Eastern .... 

Boston and Maine . 

New York and New 
England . . . 

Boston, Revere-Beach 
and Lynn . . . 



243 
57 
147 



115 

92 

147 
6 



275 
172 

150 
235 
114 
179 
170 

152 
28 



6,170 

874 

3>032 

2,302 

3,333 
2,091 
1,868 

3,558 
18 



8,794,412 
5,482,707 
4,979,973 
7,826,501 
3,542,936 
7,905,853 
7,054,309 

4,368,090 
1,628,460 



3,325,517 
732,768 
1,477,058 
1,597,048 
2,112,155 
1,316,702 
958,332 

1,786,531 



Boston has been, from the start, a commercial city ; and its commerce 
has been most extensive. The first ship was built as early as 1631; the 
quaint records of ' the early day stating, under the date of July 4 of that 
year, " The Governour built a bark at Mystick which was launched this day 
and called the Blessing of the Bay." The first regular steamship that ar- 
rived in Boston from across the Atlantic was the '' Acadia," of the Cunard 
Line, in 1840. The advantages of the situation of the city, set upon a harbor 
deep, capacious, secure, and unobstructed at all seasons of the year, were 
early comprehended by the people ; and the shipping-interests were fostered 
and extended with wise judgment and great rapidity. Even before the close 
of the seventeenth century, the product of the land was shipped to Virginia, 
the West Indies, Great Britain, Portugal, Spain, and Madeira, in exchange 
for the fruits, wines, and manufactures of those countries ; and the con- 
struction of wharves on a systematic scale was begun. In the early part of 
the nineteenth century, great improvements were made in the wharves, and 
the streets leading thereto. Long Wharf had been built since 1710, and was 
then much longer than it now is, owing to the filling-in and extension of the 
water-front. The building of Central Wharf, with a line of 54 stores four 
stories high, was one of the early improvements o£ the nineteenth century; 
and before 1S50 the whole margin of the city on the east and north was 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 53 

lined with about 200 docks and wharves, affording an extent of wharfage of 
over five miles, with fine warehouses, many of granite, presenting a solid 
and substantial appearance. Of the magnitude of some of these wharves, 
a few figures will give an idea. Before the building of Atlantic Avenue, 
w^hich has been built by the making of new land across the head of the 
wharves, thus shortening their length, Long Wharf extended 1,800 feet into 
the harbor, with a hne of 'jd warehouses; Central Wharf, 1,379 ^^^^5 "^"^^ 
India Wharf, 980 feet. Among other extensive wharves are T, Commer- 
cial, Lewis's, Russia (formerly Grifiin's Wharf, which was the scene of the 
famous " tea-party " in the early days of resistance to British oppression). 
Battery, and Constitution Wharves. The fine deep-water front across the 
harbor on the East-Boston side, and Constitution Wharf in the city proper, 
accommodate the European steamships. In East Boston, besides the exten- 
sive Grand-Junction wharves of the Boston and Albany Railroad, are the 
Cunard Wharf, and the wharves of the National Dock and Warehouse Com- 
pany, where the bulk of the East-India trade is done. In the Charlestown 
district, the water-front is taken up by the Navy Yard, wharves belonging to 
the Fitchburg Railroad Company, the large Mystic-river Wharf of the Boston 
and Lowell Railroad Company, with its grain and coal elevators, and the 
wharf of the Mystic-river Corporation. On the south side of the harbor, 
the filling-in of the South-Boston flats is rapidly advancing; and large deep- 
water docks and wharves, with railroad freight-yards, are now^ ready to accom- 
modate ocean steamships at available points along the entire water-front. 

The Shipping-interests of Boston suffered a temporary check during 
the war of the Rebellion, but they are now steadily and rapidly improving; 
and the city maintains its position as the second commercial port in the 
Union. There are now ten or more different steamship-lines to Liverpool, 
Glasgow, London, Hull, and the Continent ; the addition of the Allan Line 
having added important Grand Trunk Railw^ay connections. Ten years ago 
the Cunard steamships were the only transatlantic ones running to Boston, 
and they ran but once a fortnight. There are also regular weekly lines to 
the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island ; 
a regular line to the Western Islands; and coastwise steamers to Philadel- 
phia, Savannah, Baltimore, Norfolk, New York, and Portland. Among new 
lines projected, is one to the West Indies. The export trade of the city is 
steadily progressing. The total exports for 1884 were valued at $65,808,629, 
and the total imports were valued at $59,744,297. In 1879 ^^'^^ ^^^^ ^^^ 
amount of imports and exports were nearly $13,000,000 greater than in 1884, 
but with the return of general prosperity these figures will be exceeded. 

The Cunard Line of Atlantic steamships to Liverpool employs four ves- 
sels in its Boston service, — the Pavonia, Catalonia, Scythia, and Cephalonia. 



54 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



Sailing days from this port are Saturdays. The steamships are stanch and 
capacious, and have long been popular with the travelling public. The com- 
pany has adopted a " lane route " for all seasons, with the view of dimin- 
ishing the chances of collision. The Cunard docks are at the foot of Clyde 
Street, East Boston, They are extensive and spacious, well lighted, and 
thoroughly equipped. They are so arranged that the company can load and 
discharge three of its vessels at a time. They are covered docks with rail- 
road tracks running into them along three sides, and freight is received from 
the cars on to platforms. The arrangements for the transfer of emigrants 
directly from the incoming steamers to west-bound cars are very complete. 
Their transfer through the city, and their detention at the port, are thus 
entirely avoided. The business-offices of the Cunard Company are at No. 
99 State Street. P. H. DuVernet is the general manager. 

Peabody's Australia, New-Zealand, and South-Africa Line of packets 
connects this port with all ports in Austraha and the Cape. It is under 
the management of Henry W. Peabody & Co., the only Boston house in 
the Australian trade, and a leading one of those in the Cape trade. Strictly 
A I vessels are despatched monthly to Melbourne and Sydney, and fre- 
quently to other Australasian ports and the Cape. Freight is received from 
all offering, in the same manner as is done by other transportation lines ; 
but a large portion is made up of purchases by the house on account of 
merchants and traders in the colonies. This is a prominent feature of the 
business of Peabody & Co., and an important one as bearing on the export- 
trade of Boston. The house comes into direct contact with its customers 
in the colonies through its correspondents there, and its representatives who 
make periodical trips from the home office. Its purchases for export are 
extensive, and come from different parts of the United States and Canada. 
It has aided in building up between the ports a trade already large and 
important, and steadily increasing. A large fleet of vessels is despatched 
yearly to the several Australasian and other Eastern ports. Goods are fre- 
quently shipped directly from the manufactories in the cars, and to the 
vessels from the cars which run on to the wharf. The vessels of the line 
load by the side of covered sheds ; so that the cargo is not exposed to the 
weather, an advantage of no little importance. Besides the Australasian and 
Cape trade, the firm receive frequent orders for the shipment of merchandise 
to other parts of the world, which include cargoes of petroleum to the East, 
canned goods, and other lines too numerous to mention, for England and the 
Continent. The firm was established in 1859, and is composed of Henry 
W. Peabody, who has long been in the Australian trade, Edward P. Sargent, 
and Charles D. Barry. Their main offices are in the Mason Building, 
Liberty Square, Boston ; and their branch offices are at 81 New Street, New 
York, and loi Leadenhall Street, London, England. Their packets gen- 
erally sail from Lewis Wharf, Boston. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 55 

The Anchor Line of trans-Atlantic, Peninsular, Mediterranean, and 
Oriental steamers consists of a fleet of 42 full-powered iron steamers of the 
highest class, all Clyde-built, commanded by men of large experience trained 
in the service. Founded in 1852 by the present managing owner, Thomas 
Henderson, the line has grown from insignificance to its present gigantic 
proportions. Besides the steamship business, the Messrs. Henderson own 
the Meadowside ship-building yard and graving-dock on the Clyde, and 
one of the largest engineering-works in Glasgow, where they now build 
and equip steamers for their various trades. The Boston steamers are de- 
spatched from Commonwealth Dock, South Boston, for London every fort- 
night, and for Glasgow every fortnight. The agents are Henderson Brothers, 
7 and 9 State Street. 

The Allan Line of royal mail steamships, sailing between this port and 
Glasgow, via Londonderry and Galway, is one of the largest and most popu- 
lar in the trans-Atlantic trade, and comprises a fleet of 25 Clyde-built iron 
steamers, built expressly for passenger trafific ; the latest additions to the 
fleet being the new steamers Parisian and Sardinian, which are universally 
acknowledged to be two of the largest and most perfect steamers, in all their 
appointments, now afloat. In addition to the Boston service, there is a 
weekly service between Liverpool and Quebec (Portland via Halifax in win- 
ter); fortnightly services between Glasgow and Philadelphia, and Liverpool 
and Baltimore ; thus affording passengers the most direct communication 
between Great Britain and Ireland and this country. The Allan Line enjoys 
the distinction of the patronage of Her Royal Highness the Princess Louise, 
who has selected a steamer of this line upon four successive voyages. The 
pier of the Allan Line is No. 6 Hoosac Tunnel Dock, Charlestown, and is 
admirably arranged with a view to the rapid loading and discharging of 
cargoes, and the convenience of passengers, who, on landing, can go aboard 
the railroad cars without leaving the dock. The business-ofifices of the com- 
pany are at No. 80 State Street. 

The Hansa Steamship Company (Dampfschiff-Rhederei Hansa) runs 
steamers at intervals between Boston, Antwerp, and Hamburg, taking freight 
for Antwerp, Hamburg, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Hull, Bremen, Copenhagen, 
ports in Sweden, Norway, etc. The agents in Boston are Messrs. E. A. 
Adams & Co., 115 State Street. 

Besides the lines mentioned above, all of which reach Boston, there is a 
vast business done through lines having their terminal stations in New York 
and elsewhere. For instance, E. A. Adams & Co., successors to the old 
and widely-known firm of C. L. Bartlett & Co., 115 State Street, represent the 
White Star Line to Liverpool, famous for its swift, immense, and comfortable 
steamships; the Atlas Mail Line to Jamaica, Hayti, Porto Rico, and ports 
of the Spanish Main and South Pacific; the Red Star Lifie, running its 



56 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

new and splendid fleet of steamers to and from Antwerp; the FlorioLine, 
to Gibraltar, Marseilles, and the Mediterranean ports; the Pacific Mail 
Line, to California, Japan, China, Australia, etc. ; and packets to the Azores, 
Madeira, Lisbon, and other foreign ports. Their freight and passengers 
are booked in Boston, and may therefore be included in the commerce of 
this city. The firm is composed of Edward A. Adams solely, who previous 
to Jan. I, 1885, carried on the same business under the old firm name. It 
is one of the oldest of steamship-agents, ship-brokers, and commission- 
merchants, in the city, having been established in 1849. They also handle, 
charter, and disburse sailing-vessels or steamers consigned to them in 
Boston, and pay special attention to the purchase and shipment of goods on 
foreign orders. 

The Leyland Line has a fleet of ten large steamships plying between 
Boston and Liverpool, and carrying vast quantities of freight. They dis- 
charge at the Hoosac-Tunnel docks, and their office is at 114 State Street. 

The Metropolitan Line has four steamships, of over 1,800 tons each, 
vi^hich ply tri-weekly between Boston and New York, by the outside route. 
This company has also fire-proof buildings for general storage, covering 
about 100,000 square feet, between Central Wharf and India Wharf. 

The Warren Line has four steamships of large size, specially con- 
structed for this trade, and plying between the Grand-Junction Wliarves and 
Liverpool. There are also thirteen steamships in the Wilson Line, between 
Boston and Hull, with a fortnightly service. The White-Cross Line, from 
Boston (New-York and New-England docks) to Antwerp, has a fleet of six 
steamships. There are also six steamships of the Furness Line plying 
between Boston and London; and twenty British, German, French, and 
Danish steamers running irregularly from this port to Cuba and the Medi- 
terranean. 

The Boston and Bangor Steamship Company was founded in 1833, and 
in 1882 passed under the present management, which includes William H. 
Hill, jun., general manager, and Capt. James Littlefield, general superin- 
tendent. The fleet of this company includes three large and first-class sea- 
going steamships, the " Penobscot," " Cambridge," and " Katahdin ; " and 
three smaller steamers, the " Mount Desert " (500 tons), " Henry Morrison," 
and " Rockland." The three latter connect with the steamships at Rock- 
land, and run eastward to Mount Desert, Sullivan, and other ports farther 
down the coast. Each of the steamers leaving Boston has first-class accom- 
dation for upwards of 500 passengers. The state-rooms are large and com- 
fortable, and are supplied with electric-bells. The tables are provided with 
the delicacies of the season. The steamships leave Foster's Wharf, 366 
Atlantic Avenue, Boston, at five o'clock every afternoon (semi-weekly in 
winter), reaching Rockland early the next morning, after a picturesque and 




From " King's Ilandbook of Boston Harbor." Moses King, Cambrid; 

rUAPI FCTOWM MA\/V VAPR 



58 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON 

interesting voyage along the Massachusetts and Maine coasts. From Rock- 
land the connecting steamer of the same line runs eastward, through the 
beautiful Penobscot archipelago to the summer-resorts of and near Mount 
Desert. The steamship from Boston runs up Penobscot Bay and River, 
touching at several ports (Belfast, Bucksport, etc.), and reaches Bangor 
before noon. This is a favorite route to Moosehead Lake and the famous 
fishing and hunting grounds of the great Maine wilderness, and gives a 
panoramic view of the most interesting, historic, and picturesque parts of 
the eastern coast of New England, from Boston Harbor, Salem and Swamp- 
scott, Marblehead and Cape Ann, to the Isles of Shoals, Monhegan, and 
the sea-beaten coast of hundred-harbored Maine. 

The naval guardians of these great fleets of commerce are snugly shel- 
tered in a nook at the head of the harbor, so long as their services are not 
required in active duty. In this nook is the United-States Navy-Yard, with 
its vast docks, machine-shops, arsenals, and other concomitants of grim- 
visaged war, now well-nigh overgrown with the grasses and mosses of twenty 
years' disuse. In and near this yard were built many famous old war-ships, 
like the " Independence," " Constitution," "Argus," "Princeton, "Cumber- 
land," " Merrimac " (destroyer of the " Cumberland "), " Hartford," " Wa- 
chusett," and fifty others, ~line-of-battle ships, iron-clads, monitors, and 
other deep-voiced monsters of the sea. About the only visible symbol of 
naval power remaining is the ancient receiving-ship, the " Wabash," with her 
triple lines of ports, like one of Nelson's floating castles, her tall and taper- 
ing masts, and her trimand well-kept spars. 

In 1880, 330 steamships sailed from Boston for European ports ; in 1881, 
325; and in 1882 but 208. In the year 1884, the number rose to nearly 300. 
In 1884, the number of steamships clearing from Boston for foreign ports 
was 498, of which 195 went to Canada, and nearly all of the others cleared 
for European ports. In 1884, 2,377 vessels cleared hence for foreign ports, 
and 2,526 vessels arrived. One-fifth of these were American. The exports 
for the year exceeded $65,000,000 ; the imports, 160,000,000. 

There are nearly thirty steam-tugs in Boston Harbor, besides four power- 
ful ocean wrecking-tugs, five steam lighters, three floating elevators, and 
three large grain-barges. The pilot service includes eight boats and thirty- 
one pilots, and is said to be one of the best in the world. It is governed 
by very stringent laws ; and in-bound vessels must be brought up into the 
stream, or to the wharves, while those outward bound must be taken beyond 
Fort Warren. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON, 59 



fgotete antr JacstattrantiS. 

THE PRINCIPAL TRANSIENT AND FAMILY HOTELS, THE 
RESTAURANTS AND CAFES. 

THE first tavern in Boston is said to have been opened in 1634, by Sam- 
uel Cole, on Merchants' Row. During the seventeenth century the 
leading taverns were the State Arms, the Ship, the King's Arms, the Castle, 
the Red Lion, the King's Head, and the Green Dragon ; most of which 
were at the North End. Histories tell some droll stories of these old tav- 
erns. In the last century the most celebrated houses were the British 
Coffee House, the Royal Exchange, the Roebuck Coffee House, and the 
Green Dragon Tavern; the latter being the headquarters of the Liberty 
Boys. When coaches came into vogue, such houses as Earl's, the Elm- 
street, the Eastern Stage, and the City Tavern were opened: the latter, 
situated on Brattle Street, was owned by Simeon Boyden, who has been 
called the "father of the hotel system of the United States." The Boston 
Exchange was built on Devonshire Street in 1804, and burned in 1818, 
when the conflagration is said to have interrupted a game of cards in which 
Henry Clay held three aces. The Lion, the Lamb, the Pearl-street House, 
Hatch's, the Commercial Coffee House, and the Sun Tavern became 
famous hostelries and places of resort. Succeeding these came the IMarl- 
borough, the Albion, the Bromfield, and others ; some of which, although 
still standing, have outlived their pre-eminence. But it is regarding the 
hotels of the present time that the reader is to be informed. Lentil within 
a few years visitors sought hotel accommodations almost wholly in what is 
now the heart of the business district; but since the completion of Boston's 
two most famous hotels, — the grand Hotel Brunswick, erected in 1874, and 
the palatial Hotel Vendome, erected in 1880, — the wealthier class of visitors 
seek the magnificent accommodations offered by those hotels, situated in 
one of the finest residence districts in the city, and surrounded by note- 
worthy public buildings, broad thoroughfares, and attractive parks. 

The Vendome is the newest hotel in Boston, and one of the most pala- 
tial and most elaborately furnished hotels in the world. Its main front is 
on the most beautiful American thoroughfare, — Commonwealth Avenue, — 
which bisects the Back-bay district, one of the finest architectural sections 
to be found in any country. This avenue is 240 feet wide ; through its 
centre is a strip of parkland 100 feet wide, lined with trees and shrubs, and 



6o KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

containing the Hamilton and Glover statues. It is to be constantly im- 
proved. The Vendome front on Commonwealth Avenue extends 240 feet, 
and the front on Dartmouth Street 125 feet. Including the mansard roof and 
the basement, it is eight stories in height. The fronts are of white Tucka- 
hoe and Italian marble, the windows and doors having elaborate carvings. 
The roof and towers are of wrought iron covered with slate. The floors 
are laid upon iron beams and brick arches ; and all interior partitions are 
of strictly incombustible material. On the first floor are the various public 
rooms, five dining-rooms, an elegant banquet-hall 30 by no feet, and the 
grand parlors ; all reached by the main entrance and by a private entrance 
on Commonwealth Avenue, so that clubs and parties can be served without 
interference with the ordinary business of the hotel. There is also an 
entrance for ladies on Dartmouth Street. The rotunda is paved with En- 
glish encaustic tiles, in colors and patterns harmonizing with the furnish- 
ings, and is most exquisitely finished in hard woods, cathedral glass, and 
fresco-work. The great dining-hall, with seats for 320 persons, is richly 
adorned with mirrors, carved mahogany and cherry wood, frescos, and a 
handsome frieze. Each of the six upper stories contains seventy rooms, 
grouped so as to be used singly or in suites. Two celebrated Whittier 
jDassenger, one baggage, and several small elevators for special purposes, 
provide ample facilities for transit up and down. The plumbing-work is 
almost marvellous ; for every improvement to secure health and comfort has 
been introduced. Every apartment has access to a spacious bath-room, 
which, as well as every gas-fixture, has its independent ventilating-tubes. 
No open basins are placed in chambers, all being shut off in the closets 
adjoining. Every room is provided with open fire-places, although the 
whole building is heated by steam. The registers serve a double purpose, 
— supplying either ventilation or warmth, the change being made by simply 
turning the knob to the right or to the left. In short, there is hardly an 
improvement of modern times that has not been introduced into this noble 
edifice. The furniture, too, in every room, on all floors, is luxurious : the 
parlors being as beautifully furnished and as handsomely decorated as those 
of any American hotel. The Vendome is conducted on the American plan, 
the charges being $5 per day. It was built by Charles Whitney, a wealthy 
citizen of Boston, at a cost of a million dollars, expressly for Col. J. W. 
Wolcott, who is to-day recognized as the peer of any hotel landlord, and 
who has in his several hotels entertained a host of eminent personages.^ 

The Hotel Brunswick, situated on Boylston Street, corner of Clarendon, 
is one of the grandest, pleasantest, and most handsomely furnished hotels 
in the world. Its site is very delightful and easily accessible. It is just 
across the street from Trinity Church, the Institute of Technology, and the 
Society of Natural History, and is within a few minutes' walk of the Mu- 

^ Col. Wolcott died in 1885. The Vendome is now conducted by W. Tracy Eustis. 



62 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

seum of Fine Arts, Public Garden, Boston Common, Boston Art Club, 
Mechanics' Association building, and several of the new church edifices, 
among which are the New " Old South," Arlington-street, First Church, 
Central, and Emmanuel. It is as convenient to depots and all parts of the 
city as are any of the old hotels. Boylston Street, on which the Brunswick 
fronts, is a fine thoroughfare 90 feet wide. The " Beacon-street," the 
" Huntington-avenue," " Longwood-avenue," " Dartmouth-street," and Back- 
bay cars pass directly in front of the hotel ; and other lines of cars run 
close by. The hotel is conducted on the American plan, the terms being 
$5.00 per day. The Brunswick building, designed by Peabody & Stearns, the 
Boston architects, is essentially fireproof. It covers more than half an acre 
of ground, is 224 by 125 feet, six stories high, with basement, and contains 350 
rooms. The chambers are supplied with all modern conveniences : every 
apartment has hot and cold water, and every suite a bath-room. The 
Whittier passenger-elevator is one of the most luxurious in Boston. 
The structure is of brick, with heavy sandstone trimmings. The principal 
finish of the first two stories is of black walnut. On the ri*ht of the prin- 
cipal entrance are two parlors for the use of ladies, and on the left of 
the main entrance is the gentlemen's parlor. The ladies' parlors were 
wholly refurnished in 1881, and are now probably the handsomest hotel 
parlors in this countr}-. On the easterly side of the house is the new 
dining-hall, dedicated upon Whittiers seventieth birthday, when the 
proprietors of "The Atlantic Monthly" gave the dinner at which so 
many noted American writers were present. On the riglit of the ladies' 
entrance is the large dining-hall, 80 feet long by 48 feet wide. Both dining- 
halls have marble-tile floors, the walls being Pompeiian red, and the ceiling 
frescoed to correspond. The five stories above are divided into suites and 
single rooms, all conveniently arranged, and provided with every modern 
improvement, including open fire-places, besides steam-heating apparatus. 
Every thing seems to have been done- to make the house homelike, com- 
fortable, and attractive, and free from the usual cheerless appearance of 
hotels. The cost of the building was nearly a million dollars. It was built 
in 1874, and enlarged in 1876. President Hayes, when attending the Har- 
vard Commencement in 1877, with his family and suite, occupied rooms at 
the Brunswick. The rooms were entirely refurnished, and the hotel elabo- 
rately decorated, for the occasion. At this hotel Gen. Grant was given a 
complimentary banquet on the return from his trip around the world. Ex- 
Govs. Rice and Talbot reside at this hotel. Many of the Harvard classes, 
the alumni of Bowdoin College and of Williams Collcjre, the Bar Associa- 
tion of Boston, and several literary and social organizations, have selected 
this as the place for their annual dinners. 

Ever since tlie Brunswick has been open it has been filled with the 



64 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

wealthiest class of transient and permanent guests ; the former including a 
good part of the distinguished people who have been in Boston during the 
past seven years, — the Dukes of Argyll and Sutherland, President Arthur, 
and others, — and the latter including many of the best-known citizens. 
The proprietors are Amos Barnes and John W. Dunklee, under whose 
management the Brunswick has become one of the most famous hotels of 
modern times. 

The Parker House fronts on School and Tremont Streets. It was 
founded in 1854 by Harvey D. Parker, and is a large six-story marble-front 
edifice, containing 260 rooms, including many large drawing-rooms and 
suites. The price of rooms ranges from $1 to $5, and of suites from $8 to 
$12 per day. The house is on the European plan, and the restaurant is one 
of the finest in the country. The cafe is the rendezvous and exchange 
for politicians and business-men on all occasions ; while at times, such as 
election night, the lobby becomes the resort of crowds, and presents an 
animated scene. The Parker House has been one of the most successful of 
American hotels; and in November, 1882, a great banquet was given here 
to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Mr. Parker's embarkation in business, 
which occurred in a restaurant under Tudor's Building in Court Square. Mr. 
Parker died in 1884, when the magnificent marble extension of the hotel, at 
the corner of Tremont and School streets, was but partly finished. The 
present proprietors of the house are Joseph H. Beckman and Edward O. 
Punchard. Many very eminent guests have availed themselves of the hos- 
pitalities of this house, whose central location, sumptuous equipment, and 
ancient prestige give it a strong claim on popular favor. In 1882 the Parker 
House was refurnished and redecorated, and made ready for another long 
period of usefulness. Conspicuous among the snug dinner-parties which are 
given in the private dining-rooms up-stairs, are those of the Agricultural, 
Literary, Bird, Boston, and other famous clubs, which devote a part of each 
Saturday to good living and fine rhetoric, and free exchange of view^s on 
political, commercial, and other events. Contiguous to the main entrance 
and office are the telegraph and telephone offices, news-stand, and theatre- 
ticket office; and beyond is the great dining-room for gentlemen, which 
affords a busy scene about noonday, when hundreds of merchants and busi- 
ness-men are dining here. The cafe' for ladies is on the School-street side; 
the lunch-room and the famous. billiard-room are in the basement. Parker's 
is one of the great institutions of Boston ; and at times of popular excitement 
the focus of interest is here, where the telegrams come in rapidly, and the 
political leaders of the people congregate to exchange views. Starting from 
modest beginnings, this hotel has grown to imposing proportions, keeping 
pace with the improvements of the times, and gaining wider and wider fame 
throughout the world. While several threat hotels of the first rank have 




THE PARKER HOUSE. 

School Street. 

Joseph H. Beckman. Edward O. Punchard. 



66 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

risen in other parts of the town, Parker's has continued to hold and increase 
its old patronage, — the taste for hotel-hfe in Boston seeming to increase 
more rapidly than the accommodations. 

Young's Hotel is another of the favorite houses for business-men, 
situated in the business section of the city, and famed for its aiisme and 
the excellence of its appointments. It stands near the head of State Street, 
directly in the rear of the new Rogers Building on Washington Street. It 
is approached from Washington Street by avenues on either side of the 
Rogers Building; and it also has an entrance on Court Square, opposite 
the County Court House ; and a new and ornamental one, known as the 
ladies' entrance, on Court Street, in a new wing of the house, built on 
during the winter and spring of 1882. The house is very large; the new 
and lofty wing just added more than doubling its capacity, and furnishing a 
handsome front, architecturally fine, and imposing in general appearance. 
The old portion is of brick, with stone trimmings ; and the new portion on 
Court Square and Court Street is of stone, with highly ornamented front, 
and towering two stories above the lofty Sears Building adjoining. The 
house now contains over 300 rooms, with a large number of sumptuously 
furnished suites. The prices range from $1 to $3 for single rooms, according 
to location, and from $8 to $12 for suites. A large amount of the first-floor 
space is utilized for dining-rooms and cafe. The large dining-room in the 
old part of the house is elaborately decorated, and the ladies' dining-room in 
the new part is one of the most elaborately finished and furnished in the 
city. Young's is also a famous dining-place. It has many private dining- 
rooms, and several of the dining-clubs have their headquarters here. Of 
these the Mass'achusetts, Middlesex, and Essex clubs have rooms of their 
own, meeting regularly on Saturday afternoons at dinner, during the winter, 
spring, and autumn seasons. The house was founded by George Young, 
whose name it bears. Mr. Young retired from business several years ago, 
having earned a competence here; and he was succeeded by the present 
proprietors, George G. Hall and Joseph R. Whipple, under the firm-name 
of Hall & Whipple. The great changes and enlargement of the house have 
been made during the proprietorship of the latter firm. Messrs. Hall & 
Whipple have increased their hotel interests by establishing the magnificent 
new Adams House, whose seven-story marble front rises at 555 Washington 
Street, just beyond the Boston Theatre, on the site of the old Adams House, 
which itself long stood on the site of the Lamb Tavern, from whence the 
first stage to Providence started in the early days when railroads were un- 
known. This is one of the finest and best-equipped hotels in the city, of 
which its dining-rooms and cafe are, as in the present Young's Hotel, con- 
spicuous features. The new house, like Young's, is on the European plan, 
with every modern improvement. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON, 



67 



The United-States is one of the oldest and best of the well-established 
hotels of the city. Its fame is wide-spread. Its seal dates back to 1826; 
and from that early date to the present it has been maintained up to the 
best standard, but never better than now. It is situated directly opposite 
the station of the old Boston and Albany Railroad, within two blocks of the 
Old-Colony Railroad, only a short distance from the New- York and New- 
England Railroad station, and not far from the retail portions of the city 
and the great commercial centres. The street-car service of the city sur- 
rounds it with its network of lines radiating to all parts of the city and 
suburbs; it is near the seashore lines of steamboats, and its location is in 
other respects unusually convenient for the travelling public. It was built 
before the establishment of the great railroad system which gave such an 
impetus to the business interests of Boston ; but, anticipating the changes 
to be wrought 
in the immedi- 
ate future, its 
projectors se- 
lected its site 
wth rare fore- 
sight. When 
it was built, it 
was the largest 
hotel in the 
city, and was 
regarded as a 
noteworthy ac- 
cession to the 
public build- 
ings of the 

place. It has since been twice enlarged by the addition of an entire block 
on Lincoln Street and another on Kingston Street, named respectively 
"Oregon" and "Texas," as they were built at the time these States were 
admitted into the Union. The property now covers the entire square, nearly 
two acres of ground, enclosing generous areas for light and air half an acre 
in extent. The house is built of brick, with broad and inviting entrances ; 
is but three stories high ; its five hundred rooms are exceptionally large and 
comfortable, well ventilated, and all open to the sunlight ; its public rooms, 
spacious and high studded ; and its broad halls, extending through the entire 
front and wings, giving plenty of light and air throughout the building. For 
many years it was the favorite stopping-place of the distinguished men of 
the country coming from time to time to Boston. Daniel Webster for a 
while lived here. Here Charles Sumner entertained Dickens; and many 




United-States Hotel, Beach and Lincoln Streets. 



68 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



noteworthy and elegant banquets have been given in its spacious dining- 
hall. Of late years families owning country places, and others, have made 
it their city winter residence, while it has continued to be steadily popular 
with transient guests. A few years ago the house passed into the hands 
of the Hon. Tilly Haynes, a well-known gentleman, formerly of Spring- 
field, who has served as a State senator and in the executive council ; and 
he has so completely restored, rebuilt, and refurnished it that it has again 
taken a front rank among the notable public houses of the city. 

The Tremont House, on the corner of Tremont and Beacon Streets, was 
the pioneer first-class hotel in America. It was built in 1830, by a company 
of Boston capitalists, and in 1859 was purchased for the Sears estate. It is 
a solid granite structure on the front, with an imposing porch at the main 
entrance on Tremont Street with five granite pillars. It occupies the block 
bounded by Tremont and Beacon Streets, Tremont Place, and the Granary 
Burying-Ground. The dining-rooms and halls are lighted by the electric 
light. The proprietors are Silas Gurney & Co. The house is conducted 
on the American plan. The prices are from. $3.50 to $4.50 per day. It is 
patronized largely by families, and its many family suites are pleasantly 
situated and arranged. In 1885 the Tremont was largely remodelled ; the 
granite steps being removed, and the office, 68 by 54 feet in area, being 
placed on the ground-floor, and lighted by a colossal dome-light. New 
dinmg and reception rooms were added, and modern decorations, with abun- 
dant wood-work in cherry, plate-glass windows, etc. There is also an 
entrance for ladies on the first floor, and a pleasant waiting-room. 

The American House, No. 56 Hanover Street, Henry B. Rice & Co., 

proprietors, is the leading 
^ -^ ^^ business - house of the 

city kept on the Ameri- 
can plan. It was first 
opened in 1835, "^"^^ was 
entirely rebuilt in 1851, 
covering the sites of the 
old American House, 
Hanover House, Earl's, 
and Merchants' Hotels. 
On part of this ground 
stood the home of Gen. 
Warren. Additions and 
improvements have often 
been made ; and it is now one of the largest, as it is reputed to be one of 
the best-managed, hotels in New England. It is finely furnished, has wide 
corridors, spacious public drawing-rooms, and all modern improvements for 




If f Iff f ' 



'irt s\ 






."T I'l^l tfj? 1 v' 



^;?SS^M 



,„..... - ,,1f 




American House, Hanover Street. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON 



69 



the convenience of its guests. The first passenger-elevator in Boston was 
constructed for this house. It has an established reputation for the uniform 
excellence of its table and the cleanhness and comfort of its rooms, and 
has long been the headquarters of the shoe-and-leather trade, and a popular 
resort for Western and Southern merchants. It has fine family suites, and 
is conveniently situated for business or pleasure. The prices are from $3.00 
to $4.00 per day. The original American House and the present one have 
been, during forty consecutive years, under the management of the late 
Lewis Rice and his son Henry B. Rice. Under their skilful management 
the hotel has always proved to be satisfactory to the thousands of guests for 
whom they have provided. 

The Revere House, on Bowdoin Square, is a large hotel on the Ameri- 
can plan, having accommodations for 250 guests, and charging $3.00 to $4.00 
a day, according to the location of rooms. It was built in 1847 by a company 
of prominent gentlemen, and 
was named after the Revolu- 
tionary hero Paul Revere. 
For many years it was under 
the management of Paran 
Stevens, w-ho was also lessee 
of the Fifth-avenue Hotel in 
New York, and the Conti- 
nental Hotel in Philadelphia. 
Bowdoin Square, on which 
the house fronts, is a street- 
car centre. 

The Commonwealth 
Hotel is a large marble building at the South End, where Washington 
Street broadens out beyond the Cathedral, in a region of comparative quiet 
and restfulness. It is mainly used as a home for families, many of which 
spend the winter season here ; and the social life within the house is ani- 
mated and delightful. The Commonwealth is at 1697 Washington Street. 
Its proprietors are R. W. Carter & Co. 

The Clarendon Hotel is another large=and comfortable South-End hotel, 
at 521 and 523 Tremont Street, and kept by J. Pickering Draper. This is 
also a family house, in a quiet and retired part of the city, and convenient 
to horse-cars. 

The Hotel Oxford, on Huntington Avenue, just beyond Copley Square, 
on the line of the Brookline and Longwood ^horse-cars, has a first-class 
restaurant and furnished rooms for transient guests, although the main 
purpose of the vast and palatial structure is that of an apartment hotel. 

The St. Nicholas is a new hotel and restaurant, on the European plan. 




70 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

at 8, lo, 12, and 14 Province Street, close to School Street and the City Hall, 
and handy to the centre of the city. The proprietor is George W. Crocker. 
Other Hotels, about 150 in number, of various grades, are in almost 
every part of the city. Among the better class in the city proper are the 
Crawford House, corner of Brattle and Court Streets, by Stumcke & Good- 
win ; the Quincy House, corner of Brattle Street and Brattle Square, by 
James W.Johnson & Co.; the Creighton House, 245 Tremont Street, by 
Robertson & White ; the International Hotel, 625 Washington Street, 
by Mrs. K. Reichardt ; the New Marlborough Hotel, 736 Washington Street, 
by John T. Dizer; the Metropolitan Hotel, 1162 Washington Street, by 
McKay & Ingham; the Sherman House, Court Square, by Milo H. Crosby; 
the Waterston, 8 Bulfinch Place ; and the Hotel Winthrop, corner Allston 
and Bowdoin Streets. In East Boston is the Maverick House, Maverick 
Square; in the Roxbury District, the Norfolk House, Eliot Square; and in 
the Brighton District, the Faneuil Hotel, Washington Street. 

The "French flat," or Continental system of dwellings, sometimes called 
"family hotels," — a single tenement occupying the whole or part of a floor, 
instead of several floors in a house, — gained its foothold in America by 
its introduction in Boston. Before the annexation of the surrounding 
districts, Boston is said to have been the most densely populated city in 
America ; and there was a natural demand for economy in space. The first 
building of the " French flats," or " family hotel," class was the Hotel 
Pelham, at the corner of Tremont and Boylston Streets, built by Dr. John 
H. Dix about twenty years ago. At the widening of Tremont Street, this 
building was raised up bodily, and moved about twenty feet down Boylston 
Street, without disturbing the occupants, or in the least disarranging the 
interior, — a feat of engineering regarded at the time as most remarkable, 
being the first instance of the moving of such a large mass of masonry. 
This style of dwelling rapidly increased in popularity, and now their number 
is so great that is hardly practicable to mention them here. They range 
from the most palatial and elegant structures, equally beautiful in exterior 
and interior decorations, to plain and comfortable houses adapted for people 
of moderate means. The greater portion of the costly class have passenger- 
elevators. The price paid for the rent of a dwelling generally includes 
the steam-heat and the service of the janitor, who performs the heaviest 
drudgery. Among the most prominent of these houses are the Hotel 
Pelham, before mentioned; the Hotel Boylston, on the opposite corner, 
owned by Charles Francis Adams; the Berkeley, Bristol, and Cluny, on 
Boylston Street; the Vendome, Hamilton, and Agassiz, on Commonwealth 
Avenue; the Huntington and Oxford, on Huntington Avenue; the Hoff- 
man, Edinburgli, Albemarle, Howland, Berwick, Angelo, and Aldine, on 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON 71 

Columbus Avenue ; the Blackstone, fronting on Blackstone Square ; in the 
Roxbury district, the Dartmouth, EHot, and Comfort; and in the Charles- 
town district, the Waverley. 

The Restaurants and Cafes of Boston number nearly 500. Excepting 
those connected with hotels, there are not many worthy of particular men- 
tion. As a rule, they furnish good food at reasonable prices, and are well 
kept, and situated in all parts of the city. The cafes of the Parker House, 
Young's Hotel, the Revere House, and the Tremont House, are frequented 
by persons desiring a hasty first-class meal. Of some of the noteworthy 
restaurants, brief sketches are given. 

Frost and Dearborn's Restaurant is one of the largest, finest, and most 
popular dining-saloons in the wholesale district. It is situated at 8 and 10 
Pearl Street, a short distance from Milk Street, and directly opposite the 
Pearl-street entrance to the building of the Mutual Life Insurance Company. 
It was opened in 1873 by Samuel E. Kendall and John N. Dearborn, and 
was then known as Kendall's Restaurant. Mr. Kendall will be remembered 
as having kept for a series of years some of the best restaurants that Bos- 
ton has ever had. One of these was under the Old State House, and in its 
day was a rival of Parker's. Another was at 8 Congress Square, where he 
continued for 17 years. This was always patronized by the most prominent 
business-men; and, until destroyed by the Great Fire of 1872, it was con- 
sidered one of the most successful restaurants in Boston. The present 
establishment has, from the time when it was opened, met with that success 
which Mr. Kendall's reputation and experience guaranteed it. In his efforts 
to conduct first-class restaurants, Mr. Kendall was always greatly aided by 
John N. Dearborn and Morrill Frost. Mr. Dearborn, for instance, was 
connected with him for 25 years ; and Mr. Frost was in his employ for many 
years, beginning in 1845 under the Old State House. In 1875 Mr. Kendall 
died; and Mr. Frost, after being for 21 years the proprietor of the restaurant 
and news-stand in the Boston and Albany Railroad Depot, became associated 
with Mr. Dearborn. From the above it is seen that Messrs. Frost & Dear- 
born have long experience, a good prestige, an admirably furnished and 
conveniently situated restaurant ; and it only needs to be added that their 
cuisine is unexcelled in Boston. 

The Park House, at 4, 5, and 6 Bosworth Street, between Horticultural 
Hall and the Parker House, is a delightful restaurant and European-plan 
hotel, well known to the bo?i vivants of New England, and regularly fre- 
quented these many years by some of the most prominent citizens. The 
establishment was founded in 1842, on the site of present Post-Office, by the 
late Thomas D. Park, father of the present proprietor, the Hon. William D. 
Park, who, although still in the prime of life, is the oldest active landlord now 



72 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

in Boston. His son, William T. Park, is now associated with him in the 
business. In 1874 the present site was occupied by Mr. Park; and in 1885 
the buildings were extensively reconstructed, fitted with all the modern 
conveniences and quiet and tasteful decorations, and re-opened with great 
eclat. The lower floor contains the airy and beautiful main dining-room, 
adorned with refined taste, and cool in summer and warm in winter. 

On the next floor above are ten cosey and cheerful supper-rooms ; and 
the upper stories are occupied by sixteen neatly furnished chambers. The 
Park House serves all varieties of game in its season ; rare birds, curlew, 
widgeon, teal, grouse, plover, ducks, etc. ; the choicest of meats and vege- 
tables and desserts, in great diversity; and a long list of delicious wines 
and cordials. But its specialties are its musty ale and English mutton- 
chops, served only here, and enjoyed daily by many delighted connois- 
seurs. For some time the only place in Boston where one could obtain a 
Welsh rare-bit ; and to-day, on this score, it has no fears of competition. 

Other Restaurants worthy of mention are those of Louis P. Ober, No. 4 
Winter Place, a French restaurant, popular with men of means and lovers 
of superior viands. It has a large dining-hall, and several smaller dining 
and supper rooms for private parties. There are two or three French 
restaurants (Mieusset Freres, Beaufort's, etc.) on Van Rensselaer Place, 
much patronized by artists, brokers, and down-town business-men. Vercelli's 
is a capital Itahan restaurant, opened in 1885, at 52 Boylston Street. Other 
restaurants are those of George Fera, 162 Tremont Street; Weber, 25 and 
27 Temple Place; Dooling, 11 and 13 Temple Place; D. T. Copeland, 128 
Tremont Street ; and E. K. Brooks, 467 Washington Street. " Down- 
town," those of Mrs. Harrington, and Marston & Cunio, on School Street ; 
Stumcke & Goodwin, 9 to 13 Brattle Street; R. Marston & Co., 23 Brattle 
Street ; Smith & Underwood, 9 Exchange Place ; Campbell & Coverly, 233 
Washington Street; Isaac M. Learned & Co., 413 Washington Street; and 
John D. Gilman, 50 Summer Street. Woodbury's Cafe is at 196 Tremont 
Street. Besides these there are many small and quiet places, famous for 
one or two special features; and the restaurants about the markets, patron- 
ized by the market-men and others, renowned for the lusciousness of their 
steaks and other meats, and the general excellence of the substantial food 
they set before their hardy and hearty patrons. There are also large coffee- 
houses, magnificently furnished, and intended as adjuncts to the temperance 
cause, giving harmless drinks and light lunches, and facilities for various 
forms of amusements and games. These are under the patronage of the 
best people in Boston, and were started primarily with philanthropic views, 
but have gratified their projectors with notable financial success also. The 
chief of these are the Oriental, 985 Washington Street (South End); and 
the Alhambra. 11 to 15 Green Street, near Bowdoin Square. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOS 7 'ON. 73 



Ef)e public ButlDmgs* 

CITY, COUNTY, STATE, AND UNITED STATES BUILDINGS; 
AND CITY GOVERNMENT. 

THE pride with which the Bostonian shows the pubHc buildings, and 
those devoted to art, literature, and education, is not unreasonable. 
Without exaggeration, it can be said, that no city in the country presents a 
finer or more substantial class of buildings. They are not all imposing, 
and few are " showy ; " they are not all of modern style, after one pattern ; 
but they are, as a rule, thoroughly and honestly built; and generally attrac- 
tive and satisfactory, so far as architectural design is concerned, even to 
the educated critic. Some are stately and impressive ; others have an 
every-day business look about them ; and all are a credit to the city, and to 
those who planned and built them. 

Boston, as a city, owns upwards of 300 public buildings, covering per- 
haps 120 acres of land. Its county buildings are valued at about $3,000,- 
000 ; its public buildings, specifically classified as such, $9,000,000 ; and its 
school-buildings, $8,500,000. Several of these return good incomes, such 
as the Ouincy-Market building, $70,000 a year; Faneuil-Hall Market, 
$20,000; and the Old State House, $10,350. The State and National build- 
ings, some of which are costly, are not included in the above valuations. 

In this chapter we shall give some practical information, concisely put, 
of some of these buildings, and, to a limited extent, of their character, 
uses, and occupants. 

The City Hall, fronting on School Street, is the most elaborate munici- 
pal structure in Boston. It is a very handsome and imposing building, and 
is well adapted to the uses for which it was built. The style of architec- 
ture is the Italian Renaissance, modified and elaborated by the taste of the 
French architects of the last thirty years. The building cost over $500,- 
000, including the furniture and plans for same. The faces of the front and 
west sides are of white Concord granite ; those of the Court-square and 
City-Hall Avenue faqades are of stone from the old City Hall, which stood 
on the same spot. There is a large turfed yard in front, in which stands, on 
one side, the bronze statue of Franklin by Richard S. Greenough, erected 
in 1856; and, on the other, Thomas Ball's bronze statue of Josiah Ouincy, 
one of the earliest and most energetic mayors of Boston, which was placed 
in its position Sept. 17, 1879. 



74 



A'ING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



The first, second, and third stories and the basement of the City Hall 
are fireproof. The floors of the fourth, fifth, and attic stpries are of bur- 
netized timber. The roof is of 'wood, covered with copper and slate. The 
interior finish is principally of butternut and pine. The main entrance 
communicates with the first-story hall, which is paved with squares of black 
and white marble. Thence the fine, broad staircases or the elevator con- 
duct the visitor to the upper stories. The staircases are of iron, with face 
stringers, newels, rails, and balusters of oak. In the v/all of the first landing 
is a tablet of Sienna and white marble bearing this inscription : — 



0^5 ^ 


H^^^ 






Mayor. 


F. W. ] 


SEPr, 

'"-.'8 6 5, 
Lincoln, Jr. 




Mayor. 


G. J. F. Bryant and A. Gilmaii, Arcliitects. 

i 



In the basement are the offices of the lamp-department, the inspection 
and waste-water department, the assessors' records, and clerks, etc. On the 
first story are the offices of the city treasurer, city collector, auditor of 
accounts, water-registrar, city registrar, and assessors. On the second story 
is the room of the board of aldermen. It is 44 feet square, 26 feet high, 
well lighted and tastefully ornamented. Near by is a lobby with cloak- 
rooms. On the same floor are the offices of the mayor, mayor's clerk, the 
city clerk, 1 the city messenger, the clerk of committees, the superintendent 
of public buildings, the records of mortgages, and a large committee-room. 
On the third story are the offices of the superintendent of streets, the superin- 
tendents of sewers, of Common and squares, the board of fire-commissioners, 
the chief-engineer of the fire-department, the superintendent of printing, the 
board of street-commissioners, and the city surveyor. On the fourth story 
is the common-council chamber, 44 by 44 feet^a; feet high, with galleries. on 
three sides, and seats for 250 persons. Adjacent are dressing and committee 
rooms ; and on the same floor are the offices of the clerk of the council, the^ 

I From the year Boston became a city until 1883, there were only two city clerks, — S. F. INIcClearjr, 
sen., serving for 30 years; and his son, S. F. McCleary, jun , serving for 31 years. The clerk of the 
common council, Washington P. Gregg, was elected to the position in 1843, and re-elected each year 
up to 1885, when he declined to be a candidate, and retired from office. He was a member of tlic 
common council in 1831 and 1832. 



KING'S HAND BOOR' OF BOSTON. 



75 




BOSTON CITY HALL, SCHOOL STREET. 



y6 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

city engineer, and the water-board. On the fifth story is the city architect's 
department, and several store-rooms and watchmen's rooms. The attic, 
under the dome, contains the operating-room of the magnetic fire-alarm 
telegraph, whence alarms are sent out over the wires communicating with 
all the public bells and engine-houses. Near by are sleeping-rooms and a 
library for the operators. Above, in the dome itself, is the battery-room, 
13 by 41 feet in dimensions. The dome is surmounted by a balcony, from 
which rises a flag-staff 200 feet from the ground. Four lions' heads look 
out from the corners of the balcony, and a gilded eagle surmounts the centre 
of its front. 

The legislative power is vested in the mayor, 12 aldermen chosen from 
the city at large, and 72 common councilmen chosen by the 25 wards. The 
executive power is vested in the mayor and aldermen. The term of office of 
the mayor, aldermen, and councilmen is one year; and the election occurs 
annually on the Tuesday after the second Monday of December. The 
departments are severally designated, the assessors', financial, health, regis- 
trar's, water, fire, and police departments. The mayor receives a salary of 
$5,000 a year; the city and county treasurer, $6,000; the collector, $5,000; 
the auditor, $4,000 ; the three members of the board of health, $3,000 each ; 
the city physician, $2,700, with $1,200 for his assistant, $1,200 for the port 
physician, and $850 for his assistant; the superintendent of health, $3,500 
and horse and carriage; the city registrar, whose main duty is to keep the 
record of births, marriages, and deaths, and grant certificates of intention 
of marriage, $2,550; the three water-commissioners, $3,000 each; the city 
engineer, $4,500; the resident engineer of the Sudbury-river water-works, 
$5,000, with $3,000 for the water-registrar, $3,000 for the superintendent of 
the eastern division, and $3,000 for the superintendent of the western ; water- 
registrar Mystic water-works, $2,500, superintendent $1,800, and engineer 
$1,200; the three fire-commissioners, $3,000 each; chief engineer of the fire- 
department, $3,000; the three police-commissioners, $3,000 each; the city 
solicitor, $4,500 ; and the three registrars of voters, $2,500 each. There are 
many minor officials having positions in and about the City Hall, in the vari- 
ous city institutions, and in care of city property. The city clerk receives 
$4,000 a year, and has $13,600 a year for assistant clerks. The cost of 
administering the affairs of the city has grown rapidly within the past quarter 
of a century; and during recent years earnest efforts have been made to 
reduce it. The total actual payments of all kinds of the city and county in 
1883-84, for the year ending April 30, reached the sum of $ 19,546,539-5 1- 
The tax-levy reached $17.00 on a thousand, on a high valuation of property. 

The Directors for Public Institutions have charge of the House of Indus- 
try, the House of Reformation, the alms-houses situated on islands in the 
harbor, the House of Correction and the Lunatic Hospital at South Boston, 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 77 

the Home for the Poor on Austin Farm, West-Roxbury District, almshouse 
in the* Charlestown District, and Marcella-street (Highlands) Home for 
pauper and neglected boys. The superintendent of health has charge of the 
city stables, horses, carts, wagons, etc., necessary for the business of keep- 
ing the city streets and ways clean, collecting house-offal, etc. The Central 
Charity Bureau building on Chardon and Hawkins Streets, where the princi- 
pal charitable societies have headquarters, and the Temporary Home at the 
corner of Chardon and Bowker Streets, are in charge of the Board of Over- 
seers of the Poor. There are sixteen public bath-houses, all well equipped 
and supplied. 

The Boston fire-department is one of the most efficient i^i the country; 
and the system of its management is regarded by those well qualified to 
judge as admirable in every particular. The department is under the direct 
control of the fire-commission, consisting of three members, who are ap- 
pointed by the mayor and confirmed by the city council. There is a chief 
engineer, ten assistant-engineers, two call-engineers, and 694 men employed 
in various capacities. The apparatus consists of 36 steam fire-engines (in- 
cluding spare engines), and for each a hose-carriage; 12 independent hose- 
carriages and companies ; six chemical engines ; 14 hook-and-ladder carriages, 
four of which carry portable extinguishers ; i aerial ladder, i fire-boat, and i 
water-tower (height 50 feet). The water-front is protected by a steam fire- 
boat, constructed of iron, supplied with four steam-pumps, high-pressure 
boiler, and an 80-horse-power engine, capable of playing eight streams of 
water at one time. A self-sustaining aerial ladder, consisting of 8 sections, 
each 12 feet long, was purchased in 1876. These sections can be joined 
and the ladder raised in 6 minutes. Belonging to the department are 170 
horses, about 70,000 feet of hose, and r,ooo feet of suction-hose. The salaries 
of the fire-department are about $1,000 per day. There was paid out in 
1883-84, on account of the whole department, $602,640.97, which included 
construction of engines, repairs, refreshments, and many other details. The 
sliding-pole has been introduced into the houses of the department, and saves 
much time, as by it the men can drop from their sleeping or recreation rooms 
in front of the apparatus. With the changing of the stalls, the introduction 
of the swinging harness, the sliding-pole, and the new quick-ringing electric 
gongs, the time taken to hitch and get ready to leave quarters is as quick 
now as is consistent with safety. It is a rule, that, when any signal for a fire 
is received at the quarters of any company, every member will immediately 
report for duty on the floor. The horses will be hitched up, and the com- 
pany prepared to leave quarters upon the word '' Go," to be given by the 
officer in command. During the past year the board tested the length of 
time which it took to comply with the foregoing order while all the men, 
except the house-patrol, were in bed ; and the result showed an average 



7 8 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

time of 11^ seconds. The magnetic fire-alarm apparatus cost over $100,000. 
Boston was the first city to adopt the system. Indeed, it originated here 
with Dr. William F. Channing of this city, and Moses G. Farmer of Salem. 
In 1845 Dr. Channing, in a lecture before the Smithsonian Institute, Wash- 
ington, suggested the employment of the telegraph as a means of giving 
alarms of fire. In 1848 the subject was brought before the Boston city 
government by the mayor, and some experiments tried ; in 1851, $10,000 was 
appropriated to test the system, and during the next year it was brought 
into successful operation. It has now in working order about 260 miles of 
wire, 330 signal-boxes in use, 52 striking-machines, 60 large gongs, 42 small 
gongs, 49 tappers, 19 vibrators, and other material. At various places in 
the city the hour of noon is struck by the fire-alarm telegraph, correct time 
being furnished by telegraph from the observatory at Harvard University. 
The superintendent of fire-alarms receives $2,500 a year, with use of horse 
and carriage: there are also employed 4 operators and 3 repairers, at $3.75 
a day. A constant watch night and day is kept by the operators at the 
chief office, in the dome of the City Hall. The Boston Protective Depart- 
ment, incorporated in 1874, is under the management of the fire-under- 
writers. It had previously existed as an organization supported by volun- 
tary contributions : now, however, the money voted for its support can be 
collected through any of the State courts. Two wagons and five permanent 
men are in service at all times ; and call-men, attached to each of the hook- 
and-ladder carriages in the suburbs, are under pay of the department. The 
right of way, and authority to enter houses endangered by fire, are given by 
law. The prime object of the department is to save property, but it also 
performs meritorious work in saving life. The office of the department is 
at 70 Kilby Street. James Swords is the president, and the treasurer is 
Charles E. Guild. Connected with this department there is a superintendent 
and fire-marshal, also empowered to make investigations into causes of fires 
under certain conditions. 

The police-department, since 1878, is under the control of three commis- 
sioners, each appointed for three years by the mayor, with the approval of 
the city council. The police-force, and the salaries jmid, are as follows : 
Superintendent of police, $3,000 a year; deputy-superintendent, $2,300 a 
year; chief inspector, $4 a day; 15 captains, $4 a day each ; 10 inspectors, 
$3.50 a day each ; 34 lieutenants, $3.50 a day each ; 53 sergeants, $3.25 a day 
each ; and 658 patrolmen, $3 a day each. These, and tlie officers connected 
with the local houses of detention and the public buildings, make the whole 
police-force comprise 791 men. There are 15 divisions in the city, each 
having its own station-house. The 8th division includes the harbor and 
wharves, and has charge of the steamboat " Protector," with its men and 
rowboats. The cost of the police-department, and the charges made 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



79 




80 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

against it, amounted in the year 1883-84 to $918,924. The police-commis- 
sioners are Thomas L. Jenks, Nathaniel Wales, and Michael P. Curran ; 
and the superintendent of police is Samuel G. Adams. 

The system for supplying the city with water is elaborate, and the water- 
works form one of the most interesting features. One of the advantages 
of the peninsula which attracted the early settlers was its abundance of pure 
water: the Indian name, Shawmut, it is said signifies "Living Fountains." 
But early in its history the wants of the town had increased beyond its 
internal resources. As early as 1795 a company was incorporated to intro- 
duce water from Jamaica Pond. In 1845 this company had laid about 15 
miles of pipe, conveying water to nearly 3,000 of the 10,370 houses the city 
then contained. Pipes were at first of pine logs. The elevation of this 
pond, however, was too low to bring the water into the higher portions of 
the city; and its capacity was not sufficient for the portions it did reach. 
For many years the subject of a better supply had been agitated; and at 
length, in the year 1845, Long Pond, or Lake Cochituate as it was afterwards 
called, situated in the towns of Framingham, Natick, and Wayland, about 
twenty miles west from the city proper, was selected. In August of the 
next year, ground was formally broken for the new works by John Quincy 
Adams and Josiah Quincy, jun. ; and in 1848 the work was completed. But 
the growth of the city was so great, that in less than twenty years the 
source was insufficient; and the waters of Sudbury River have been made 
tributary, the city having been given the necessary authority in 1872. The 
extreme length of Lake Cochituate, in a direct line, is three and a half 
miles ; and the breadth of the widest part is about 1,800 feet, with a water- 
surface of 800 acres at high-water mark. In addition to the supply in the 
lake, "Dug Pond " containing 44|- acres, and " Dudley Pond " containing 

81 acres, are connected with and form important tributaries to it. The 
whole circuit of the lake, measuring at its verge when within two feet of 
high-water mark, is about 16 miles ; and the city owns an average width of five 
rods around it which is held free from taxation, also one and a quarter acres 
at the outlet of Dudley Pond ; the whole line of the water-works extending 
from Lake Cochituate, and continuing through a brick aqueduct, iron pipes, 
and stone tunnel, 14^ miles, to a reservoir in Brookline of about 23 acres 
of water-surface, and 119,583,960 gallons capacity. The Brookline reser- 
voir is a beautiful structure of irregular elliptical shape. Another receiv- 
ing reservoir — Chestnut Hill — is situated in the Brighton district, a very 
extensive and attractive work. Its construction was begun in 1865; and 
the city became possessed of 21 2f acres of land, costing about $120,000, 
before it was finished. It is s\ miles from the City Hall, and one mile 
from the Brookline reservoir. It is. in fact, a double reservoir, divided by 
a water-tight dam into two basins of irregular shape. Their capacity is 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 8i 

730,000,000 gallons, and their water-surface 123^ acres. A magnificent 
driveway, varying from 60 to 80 feet in width, surrounds the entire work : 
in some parts the road runs quite close to the embankment, separated from 
it by only a smooth gravelled walk, with green turf on either side. 

The high-service pumping-works are situated in the Roxbury district. 
The Parker-hill reservoir, on Parker Hill, built especially for the high-service 
supply, will hold 7,200,000 gallons above a plane 2|- feet above the bottom of 
the outflow-pipe. The area of the water-surface when at high-\^ater mark is 
64,033 square feet, and its elevation 219 feet above tide-marsh level. The 
Beacon-hill reservoir, originally built as a distributing reservoir, was aban- 
doned, owing to the connection of the Beacon-hill district with the high- 
service works on Parker Hill; and in 1882-83 'ts magnificent masonry was 
torn down, to give a place for new public buildings. The South-Boston 
reservoir, on the east side of Telegraph Hill, South Boston, covers, with 
its embankments, an area of about 126,000 square feet. It resembles in 
shape the segment of an ellipse, and has a w^ater-area, when at high-water 
mark, of 70,041 square feet, and a capacity of 7,508,246 gallons. This 
reservoir is not now used. The East-Boston reservoir, on Eagle Hill, East 
Boston, has a water-area, when at high-water mark, of 44,100 square feet, 
and a capacity of 5,591,816 gallons. It is used in connection with high- 
service works, which supply the higher portions of the district. 

The supply from Lake Cochituate having become inadequate to the 
wants of the city, an act was passed by the legislature, approved April 8, 
1872, authorizing the taking of the water of Sudbury River, and the construc- 
tion of suitable reservoirs and aqueducts. The river above where the water 
is taken has a water-shed of about ^$ miles. Three dams on the river form 
storage basins, having a capacity of 1,877,000,000 gallons; and a fourth 
basin is now being constructed which will have a capacity of 1,100,000,000 
gallons. From the lower basin a brick conduit, 4,170 feet long, conveys the 
water to Farm Pond in Framingham, w^hence another brick conduit, 7 feet 
8 inches by 9 feet, having a capacity of 80,000,000 gallons per day, conveys 
the water to Chestnut-hill reservoir, — a distance of about 16 miles. The 
main pipes leading from the several receiving-reservoirs to the city, and the 
distributing-pipes laid in the city proper. East and South Boston, the High- 
lands, Dorchester, West Roxbury, and Brighton districts, aggregate in 
length 368 miles, varying in size from three inches to forty-eight inches in 
diameter. The cost of construction of the Cochituate and Sudbury-river 
water-works to the city, up to the present time, is about $18,500,000. The 
cost of maintaining these works is about $325,000 per year. The income 
from water-rates is not far from $1,250,000 a year. 

Through annexation with Charlestown, the city became possessed of 
the '• Mystic Water-works.'' Mystic Lake, which is the source of supplv. 



82 KING'S HA AW BOOK OF BOSTON. 

is situated in the towns of Medford, Arlington, and Winchester, 6^ miles 
from Charlestown Square. It has an area of about 200 acres, when flowed 
to the level authorized by the Act to take water, and a storage capacity, at 
that level, of 380,000,000 gallons of water. The area of country forming 
the drainage-basin is 27.75 square miles. The conduit is 7,453 feet long. 
The reservoir is on Walnut Hill in Medford, near Tufts College. Its 
water-surface covers an area of 4^ acres; being nearly a parallelogram in 
shape, with ^length of 560 feet and a width of 350 feet. It is 25 feet in 
depth, the top line of bank being three feet above high-water mark. At this 
level its capacity is 26,244,415 gallons. The top water-line is 147 feet above 
high-water level of the harbor. The embankments are laid out with a 
concrete walk. A roadway passes around three sides of the reservoir, at 
the foot of the embankment; and the grounds about it are handsomely 
laid out. Besides supplying the Charlestown district, the cities of Somer- 
ville and Chelsea, East Boston, and the town of Everett, are also supplied 
from the Mystic works. The cost of construction of these works, up to 
May I, 1884, w^as $1,648,452.35. The daily consumption of water is about 
33,000,000 gallons from the Cochituate works, and 7,000,000 gallons from the 
Mystic works. 

The United States Post-office and Sub-treasury building, when com- 
pleted, will be by far the most imposing public edifice in New England. It 
will occupy the square bounded by Water, Devonshire, and Milk Streets, 
and Post-office Square, fronting on the latter. Our frontispiece shows the 
Post-office-square front as it will appear when completed. The portion now 
finished, and which has been occupied since the early part of 1875, is less 
than half the entire structure. 

Efforts to secure a proper post-office building for Boston were begun as 
long ago as President Fillmore's administration; but they were not success- 
ful until 1867, when a joint resolution of Congress, appointing a commission 
to select a site for a post-office building in Boston, was approved by the Pres- 
ident. A year later a site was accepted, and an appropriation made for the 
purchase of the land; and another year later ground was broken, and the 
work begun. The celebration of the laying of the corner-stone was not until 
the first part of the building had been nearly finished to the top of the street- 
story. This was on the i6th of October, 1871. A distinguished company 
was present, including President Grant and his cabinet ; and the occasion 
was observed as a general holiday. There was a great military and Masonic 
procession. The ceremony of laying the stone was performed by William 
Sewall Gardner, grand master of the grand lodge of Massachusetts ; an ora- 
tion was delivered by Postmaster-General Creswell, and an historical address 
was made by Nathaniel B. Shurtleff. On the 9th of November, 1872, the 
building was ready for the roof, when the Great Eire came. By this it was 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. S3 

damaged to the extent of $175,000, the loss 011 granite alone being $98,000, 
Two of the pavilions on the Water and Milk Street sides were so defaced 
and chipped by the intense heat that it was necessary to replace them; and 
the marks of the fire are yet visible on plinths on both these sides. 

The building is in the Renaissance style of architecture, and of Cape- 
Ann granite. The Devonshire-street front is 200 feet long. The exterior 
facades on the three streets reach an average height above the sidewalks of 
100 feet, the central portion of each reaching a height of 126 feet. The 
street-story of 28 feet, formed by a composition of pilasters and columns 
resting on heavy plinths at the sidewalk level, and crowned with an entabla- 
ture, carries two stories above it, adorned by ornate windows. The roof is 
a solid and ambitious affair of iron, slated, upon iron girders, and presents 
circular dormer windows, in iron frames. The Devonshire fagade is sub- 
divided into five compartments by a central projection, flanked by two cur- 
tains finishing at the corners of Water and Milk Streets; and the central 
portion is ornamented with an heraldic figure, an eagle with outspread wings, 
grasping in its talons a shield. 

The post-office occupies the entire ground-floor and the basement. 
There is a continuous passage-way across the rear, or east side, from Milk 
to Water Street, with a court-yard for the convenient delivery and receipt 
of mails from the postal wagons. The basement-story has a clear height of 
14 feet, and is extended beneath the sidewalk of all three of the thorough- 
fares surrounding the present edifice. The central portion of the first story, 
81 by 43 feet, is for the post-office proper, and is connected with the rear 
court-yard, and lighted from it. All the work is transacted in one grand 
spacious apartment, directly under the eye of the various superintendents. 
This work-hall is 30 feet in height, and 216 by 82 feet in floor area, and is sur- 
rounded on three of its sides by a public corridor, from which it is separated 
by the post-ofiice screen, which contains the box and other deliveries, and 
registry. Surmounting the screen, and covering the corridor, is a mezzanine 
flooring, or gallery, 12 feet wide, opening into the grand work-hall. This is 
enclosed by a metal balcony-railing, and is reached from the floor of the hall 
by two flights of stairs. In this gallery are the offices of the superintendents 
of the city delivery and of second-class mail-matter (on the Water-street 
side); and the inquiry-office (on the ]\Iilk-street side). The postmaster's 
and cashier's rooms are in the second story. The apartments of the sub- 
treasury occupy the larger portion of the second story. " The Marble 
Cash-room," in the centre, is a showy hall, forming a parallelogram : its 
decoration is in the Grecian style which characterizes the building. The 
tall pilasters are mounted on solid bases, and topped with elaborate worked 
capitals, all of Sicilian marble : while the wall- slabbing above and below is of 
the dark and light shades of Sienna, The cornices resting on these capitals 



84 K/A'G \S" I/AX/^nOOA' OF BOSTON. 

are of lii^hly onrichocl frio/o. witli a douhlo row o\ brackets, ami richly 
ornamented. A gallcrv. ov balcony, sunmnuls the four sides ol" the rocnn, 
accessible from the staircase, hall, and ct>ri'idor ol the thinl stin'N-, The 
doors and window-sashes are of solid mahogany. Connected with the cash- 
room are the four fire and burglar proof safes. There arc also on this floor 
eight apartments for the sole use of the sub-treasury.' In other jiortitMis 
of the upper stories are the pension and internal-revenue (^('iii-es. In the 
basement is the money-order dejiartinent. The tiled halls and ccM-ritlors c>n 
these floors are broad and lofty, and the stairways are spacious antl easy. 

The completion of the building by the erection of the second section 
was long delayed by the difticulties encountered in gaining possession of 
the land. Congress agreed to make an additional apj^ropriation of ^750,oo(\ 
on condition that the streets sunounding the building should be widened. 
— for which the fire had somewhat jxwed the way, — both to improve the 
appearance of the building, and to give additional ]n-otection against fire. 
This widening was strenuously o}")posed by certain property-owners. The 
necessary legislation, however, was secured, and the a])])roi)riation made. 
Then another serious obstacle aj^peared. The (nvners of the land set such 
a h.igh price ujxmi it that it could not be considered. Ai length the courts 
were appealed to: and the jMice awarded, though considered high, was 
accepted, and the work of building the second portion was begun. When 
completed (probably in 1885), the post-oltice work-room will be extended,- 
covering the basement and street-lloiM- of the entire building, the court-^ard 
being covered and se}xirating the two wings: the ixistmaster's room will be 
removtJ^il to new (]uarters ou the same lloor as at jiresent : and the mc»nev- 
order department, now crowded into a rather dark corner o\\ the Milk-street 
side, will have well-lighted and spacious quarters on the corner of Tost-oliice 
Square and Milk Street. The United States court-rooms antl offices will be 
on the third fioor of the new wing: and the internal-revenue department will 
b« movetl \\\{o the rooms now occupied b\- the postmaster. 

The cost c^f the entire woik when the extension is completed, it is esti- 
mated, will ha\e l)een ovei" six million dollars. The sum included the Cv)st 
of the land, which was $863,000: the jiortion for the extension over which 
thyi-e was so much controversy, settled finally by the Supreme Court, cost 
about $41 1,000. 

The present is the first post-otfice building in the cily (nvned by the 
government. For most of the time jirevious to the Revolution, the office 
was in that part of Washington Street formerly knt)wn as Cornhill, between 
Water Street and the present Cornhill. During the siege of Tioston the 
post-oftice was removed to Cambridge. After the evacuation by the British, 
the office was returned to the east side of Washington Street, near State. 
Later it was removed to State Street, in a building originallv the site of the 



KING'S j/ANPHooh- or i;OS7'ON. 



«5 




86 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

first meeting-house erected in Boston. It was moved several times during 
the next thirty years, tarrying for a while in the Old State House, and 
bringing up finally in the Merchants' Exchange building on State Street, 
where it was burnt out in the Great Fire, though all the valuable matter was 
safely removed. A resting-place was found in Faneuil Hall ; and a few 
weeks afterwards the Old-South Church was re-arranged, and here the post- 
office remained until the completion of the present building. 

During the Revolution, Tuthill Hubbard was postmaster of Boston, under 
Benjamin Franklin and John Foxcroft, who were the last deputy-postmasters 
for North America under foreign appointment. Hubbard was succeeded by 
Jonathan Hastings, who remained in office until 1809. Other postmasters 
were: Aaron Hill, appointed in 1809; Nathaniel Greene, 1829; William 
Hayden, 1849; George W. Gordon, 1852; Edwin C.Bailey, 1854; Nahum 
Capen, 1858; John G. Palfrey, 1861; William L. Burt, 1867; and Edward 
S. Tobey, 1876, who is the present incumbent. The following statistics for 
the year ending June 30, 1884, show the business conducted at the post- 
office: Letters, postals, and newspapers delivered by carriers, 53,205,100; 
through boxes, 25,902,456; in general delivery, 567,528. Total collected, 
58,427,112. The total amount of pieces of mail despatched from the office, 
including matter in transit, was 200,558,816. The Boston Post-office returns 
to the Government a net profit of a million dollars yearly. 

The United States Court House, corner of Tremont Street and Temple 
Place, looks more like a church than a court-house. It was, in fact, built for 
a Masonic Temple in 1832. The walls are of Ouincy granite ; and there are 
two towers 16 feet square and 95 feet high, surmounted by battlements and 
pinnacles. There are five stories, and the rooms are lighted by long arched 
windows. This building was vacated by the Government in 1885, and sold 
at auction, to be improved for business purposes. 

The United States Navy Yard, in the Bunker-hill district, is on the point 
of land formerly known as Morton's Point, ai the junction of the Charles 
and Mystic Rivers. It comprises over eighty acres of land, and is enclosed 
on the land side by a high stone wall. On the water-front are several 
wharves and a substantial sea-wall. The granite dry-dock, 341 feet long, 
80 feet wide, and 30 feet deep, which was opened in 1833, and cost over 
$677,000, is worthy of notice. The first vessel docked here was the old 
frigate " Constitution." There is a quaint museum called the " Naval Li- 
brary and Institute," a granite rope-walk 1,361 feet long, machine-shops 
capable of giving employment to about 2,000 men, buildings for the storage 
of timber and naval stores, ship-houses, marine barracks, a magazine and 
arsenal, a parade-ground, parks for cannon and shot, and dwelling-houses 
for the commandant and various officers of the yard. Passes are issued to 
visitors on application at the gate. The yard was established in 1800, when 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



87 



the land cost only $40,000. Several large vessels of the old navy were 
built here, including the "Vermont," "Virginia," "Independence," and 
" Cumberland." 

The Boston State House, "the hub of the solar system" according to 
Dr. Holmes, stands on the summit of Beacon Hill, the most commanding 
situation in the city, on a lot which was formerly Gov. Hancock's cow-pas- 




The St-te House, Beacon Street. 



ture, bounded now by Beacon Street on the south, IMount-Vernon Street on 
the east and north, and Hancock Avenue on the west. The corner-stone was 
laid in 1795, and the oration was delivered by Gov- Samuel Adams. The 
customary Masonic ceremonies were conducted by Paul Revere, grand mas- 
ter. The original cost of the building was over 1133,000, but several expen- 
sive additions and improvements have since been made. The south side 



88 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

was added in 1852; and the dome was gilded in 1874, producing a fine effect. 
The building was first occupied by the "Great and General Court" in 1798, 
when the Old State House was abandoned. The building is oblong, meas- 
uring 173 by 61 feet. Its height, including the dome, is 1 10 feet, and the lan- 
tern is about 220 feet above the sea-level. Bronze statues of Horace Mann 
by Emma Stebbins, and of Daniel Webster by Hiram Powers, and two 
fountains, ornament the turfed terrace in front of the building. The main 
entrance is reached by a succession of stone terraces from Beacon Street, 
and leads into the Doric Hall. This hall contains the remnants of the flags 
carried by Massachusetts soldiers in the civil war. Here also are exhibited 
copies of the memorial tablets of the Washington family in England, given 
to the State by Charles Sumner; tablets taken from the old Revolutionary 
monument that stood on Beacon Hill before the State House was built; 
and guns that formerly belonged to the Concord minute-men, recalling the 
days of 1775. Thomas Ball's marble statue of Gov. John A.Andrew is 
considered a work of great artistic merit; and Chantrey's statue of Wash- 
ington, wrapped in a military cloak, should be noticed. In Doric Hall are 
also busts of Samuel Adams, Abraham Lincoln, Charles Sumner, and Henry 
Wilson. The Hall of Representatives, in the centre of the building, is the 
largest room in the State House, and accommodates 500 members. Visitors 
are admitted to the gallery during the sessions. The ancient codfish still 
hangs from one side of the ceiling, an emblem of the bygone importance of 
the cod to the State, "which has been," says Drake, "a greater source of 
wealth than the mines of California." The same fish hung in the old hall 
in State Street, but was taken down, and not restored till after the peace, 
when it was again and has ever since been displayed before the assembled 
wisdom of the Commonwealth. The Senate Chamber is at tlie east end of 
the building, and is 60 by 50 feet. It contains some portraits of dignitaries 
and a few relics. At the west end of the building is a large room for the 
meetings of the governor and council, and the offices of the governor and 
other State officers. On the north side, in the fireproof addition, is the 
State library, 88 by 37 feet in dimensions, 36^ feet high, with galleries and 
alcoves, and containing nearly 65,000 volumes. This portion of the Capitol 
also contains various committee rooms ; and the fireproof rooms in the 
basement are devoted to the preservation of State archives. There is a 
very complete agricultural library; and the State cabinet contains some 
valuable specimens of rocks, minerals and fossils, birds, animals, insects, 
and shells. For the sake of the view, which is very extensive, and gives 
a good general idea of the topography of the city, visitors to the number 
of about 50,000 per annum climb the 170 steps leading to the cupola that 
surmounts the gilded dome, which rises 30 feet from its pediment, and is 
50 feet in diameter. The cupola is free to visitors when the legislature 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



89 




90 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

is not in session ; and below there is a register wherein strangers should 
enter their names. 

The Old State House, after many years of occupation by business 
offices, was rehabilitated in 1882, and skilfully restored to its ancient 
colonial form; the main halls being leased until 1892, at a nominal rent, to 
the Bostonian Society as a museum of local antiquities, open to the public, 
free of charge, from 9.30^ to 5 daily. In the halls are ancient portraits of 
Washington, Webster, SeVall, Addington, Quincy, and other old-time wor- 
thies, and scores of paintings, engravings, and relics illustrative of Boston's 
early history. The record of the building is thus set forth : — 

"On this spot stood, until its burning, Oct. 3, 1711, the first town-house 
of Boston, founded in 1657, by the liberality of Capt. Robert Keayne. Here, 
in 1713, was erected the second town-house, whose walls endure to this day, 
as do the floors and roof, constructed in 1747, after a second fire had 
devastated its chambers. Here the loyal assemblies obeyed the Crown. 
Here the spirit of Liberty was aroused and guided by the eloquent appeals 
and sagacious counsels of Otis, Adams, Quincy, Warren, Gushing, and 
Hancock. Here the child Independence was born. Here Washington 
received the tribute of an enfranchised people; here was installed the 
government of a new State ; here for ten years our civic rulers assembled'; 
and here, by the vote of the city council of 1881, have been reconstructed, 
in their original form, the Council Chamber and Representatives' Hall — 
hallowed by the memories of the Revolution. May our children preserve 
the sacred trust." 

The quaint old council-chamber is on the east front of the building, and 
its history is summed up in the inscription: "The seat of the Vice-Regal 
state of the Governors under the Crown, during the Provincial period. 
Here, in the early time, assembled the Honorable Council, composed of 28 
citizens, chosen from the most prominent and loyal friends of the King. In 
this room were formulated the various acts of Royal authority prior to the 
evacuation of Boston by the British, March 17, 1776, and were enregistered 
the decrees of the Home Government relative to the conduct of colonial 
affairs. From the balcony under the large East window it was the custom to 
announce to the People the commissions and titles of the Governors upon 
assuming office, and proclaim with beat of drum and blast of trumpet the 
Royal Succession, whenever a new Sovereign ascended the English throne. 
Here presided in turn Joseph Dudley, Samuel Shute, and Jonathan Belcher, 
bearing the King's commission as Governors of the Province, and here, in 
the brilliant and successful administration of William Shirley, next ensuing, 
were matured the plans for the renowned military expedition, which in joint 
command of General William Pepperrell and Commodore Warren achieved 
in 1745 the conquest of Louisbourg, upon the island of Cape Breton, then 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON gr 

the chief fortress of the French in North America. Here next held Guber- 
natorial sway Thomas Pownall and Francis Bernard, which brings us down 
to 1760, when the accession of King George the Third was proclaimed. In 
the administration of Thomas Hutchinson, next in order, came the events 
culminating in the Boston Massacre, March 5, 1770, and it was from the 
large East window that the Governor addressed the populace upon that 
occasion, and ordered them to disperse. To this room came, upon the 
following day, the Committee of Fifteen, with Samuel Adams at its head, 
which had been appointed by the citizens of Boston, then convened in town 
meeting at Faneuil Hall, to wait upon Governor Hutchinson, and demand the 
removal of the British troops to Castle William (then occupying the site of 
the present Fort Independence), which was effected March lo-ii, 1770, and 
renders this chamber historic as the scene of the first concession obtained 
by the colonists from the Crown upon the eve of the illustrious struggle for 
independence. Succeeding Hutchinson in 1774 came Thomas Gage, last 
of the Royal Governors, and upon his recall the appointment of Sir William 
Howe to the command of the military force encamped in Boston, who held 
control until the evacuation of the town. From the East window, upon 
July 18, 1776, was first made pubHc, with great exultation, the Declaration of 
Independence. Here, in 1780, upon the adoption of the State Constitution, 
was formally inaugurated John Hancock, the first Governor chosen by the 
people, and here subsequently presided his successors, James Bowdoin, 
Samuel Adams, and Increase Sumner. Here, in 1830, when the building 
was taken as a City Hall, in the administration of Harrison Gray Otis, were 
held the sessions of the Board of Aldermen." 

The old Representatives' Hall is at the west end of the building, and its 
annals are thus recorded : " The Forum of popular action, where, in the 
Provincial day, was convened the Great and General Court, which, in the 
name of the People, gave official utterance to the voice of the Province. 
Here, in 1761, was delivered the memorable plea of James Otis, Jr., against 
the Writs of Assistance, and was registered the protest, later, against the 
imposition of the tax on tea. Here, in April, 1765, was received the notice 
of the passage by Parliament of the Stamp Act; and here, upon Oct. 24 of 
the same year, first appeared in public life, as Representative of the Town 
of Boston, Samuel Adams, that fearless leader of the people, who subse- 
quently bore so renowned a part in organizing the Revolution. In this 
room, in Feb., 1768, was passed by the General Court of the Province the 
significant Resolution indicative of the growing spirit of resistance, which 
ordered letters written to the other Colonies, ' with respect to the importance 
of joining with them in petitioning His Majesty at this time.' The passage 
of this order incensed the British Government, which demanded the re- 
scinding of the vote, with which the Legislature refused compliance by a 



92 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON 



vote of 92 to 17. This was followed by the action of the Ministry in 
deciding to quarter a division of the Royal soldiery in Boston ; the first 
detachment arriving from Halifax, Sept. 29, 1768. Some of the troops were 
quartered upon the Common, while the remainder were placed by Governor 
Bernard in Faneuil Hall and in this building, an arbitrary act, viewed with 
indignation by the citizens of Boston. When the General Court, at its next 
session, convened in this room, in May, 1769, its first work after organization 
was to resolve that 'an armament by sea and land, investing the Metropolis, 
and a military guard, with cannon pointed at the very door of the State 
House, where this assembly is held, is inconsistent with that dignity, as 
well as that freedom, with which we have a right to deliberate, consult, and 
determine.' Events rapidly followed which intensified the popular opposi- 
tion, at length culminating in the Boston Massacre, which occurred in front 
of this building, upon King (present State) Street, on the evening of 
March 5, 1770. The trial of Captain Preston and the soldiers, before the 
Court of the Province, took place in this room, in the month of October 
following, John Adams and Josiah Quincy, Jr., appearing in defence of the 
prisoners. From a temporary balcony erected in front of the centre window, 
at the end of this room. General Washington, in 1789, reviewed the pro- 
cession which welcomed him upon the occasion of his last visit to Boston. 
This room was last occupied by the House of Representatives on Jan. 11, 
1798, when the Legislature marched in procession from the Old State House 
to the new structure upon Beacon Hill, then completed. Here, when the 
building was occupied by this Municipality as a City Hall, in 1830, were 
held the sessions of the Common Council." 

The symbolic lion and 
unicorn of the British arms 
have been replaced on the 
eastern gable, greatly to 
the annoyance of the Irish- 
American citizens of Bos- 
ton, who continually peti- 
tion for their removal. The 
lower floors of the building 
are occupied as offices of 
transportation - companies, 
etc. 

The Custom House, at 

the corner of State and 

India Streets, is a huge 

in the Doric style of archi- 

It is 140 feet long, 




The Custom House, State Street. 



granite building in the form of a Greek cross, 
tecture, which was begun in 1837, and finished in 1847 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 93 

'j^ feet wide at the ends, and 95 feet through the centre, and rests upon 
3,000 piles, over which a platform of granite 18 inches thick is laid in 
hydraulic cement. The structure cost the United States government over 
$1,000,000. A flat dome, with a skylight 25 feet in diameter, surmounts the 
building, and is 95 feet from the floor. 32 fluted granite columns, weighing 
42 tons each, surround the edifice. The roof and dome are covered with 
wrought granite tiles. The main floor is occupied by the offices of the 
collector, deputy-collectors, and various clerks employed in the customs 
service. There is a large rotunda, 63 by 59 feet in dimensions, and 62 
feet high, in the Grecian Corinthian style. The ceiling is supported by 
12 marble columns, 3 feet in diameter and 29 feet high. On the entrance- 
floor are the offices of the naval officer, surveyor, cashier, and a deputy- 
collector having in charge the entrance, clearance, and register of vessels, 
etc. There is also a large hall in the centre of this floor. The building 
is fireproof throughout. Roland Worthington, proprietor of the "Boston 
Traveller," was appointed collector in 1882. 

The County Court House, fronting on Court Street, stands by itself; 
the avenues along its sides, and in the rear, being known as Court Square. 
It is a solid, gloomy-looking, granite building. It was completed in 1836, 
and cost about $180,000. It is 176 by 54 feet, and has three stories and a 
basement. The Court-street front has a Doric portico, supported by four 
columns of fluted granite weighing 25 tons each. Many of the county and 
city courts are held here, such as the supreme judicial court, the superior 
court, the court for juvenile offenders, and the municipal court. On tli^ 
second floor is the Social Law Library, referred to in the chapter on libra- 
ries. In the basement is the city "lock-up," for temporary accommodation. 

The Jail for the County of Suffolk, on Charles Street, near the foot 
of Cambridge Street, presents an imposing appearance, especially to one 
approaching the city by the Cambridge, or West-Boston Bridge. It was 
completed in 1851, and cost more than $500,000. It consists of a centre 
octagonal building, with four wings radiating from the centre. Three of 
these wings enclose the cells of the prison, and the other is occupied as the 
sheriff's residence and offices. The exterior is of Ouincy granite. The jail 
is in charge of Sheriff John B. O' Brien. 

The Probate Office was in a plain brick building, now occupied by the 
probate court, on the west side of Court Square, close to the City Hall. In 
1872 the quarters were removed to the lower floor of the new fireproof 
building of the Massachusetts Historical Society, thus giving them an en- 
trance at 32 Tremont Street. The probate office was established in 1636. 
The first year there were 2 cases, and the second year 5. There were 69 in 
the year 1700, and 166 in the year 1800. There are now about 2,000 new 
probate cases a year ; and since the establishment of the office there have 



94 KING'S HAND BOO A' OF BOSTON. 

been nearly 75,000 cases. It is estimated that the entire weahh of Bostor^ 
passes through the office about once in thirty years. The judge of probatt. 
and insolvency is John W. McKim, who was appointed in March, 1877. The 
register of probate and insolvency is Elijah George, who has held the office 
since April 3, 1877. The assistant register is John H. Paine; and the clerks, 
James L. Crombie and Ebenezer Gay. 

The Registry of Deeds for Suffolk County is on the floor above the 
probate court and probate office. The whole number of instruments re- 
corded in the year ending Oct. i, 1884, was 16,942. Of these, ir, 816 were 
deeds, and 5,126 related to various other matters connected with real estate. 
The total number of pages occupied by these documents was 52,658. The 
volumes of records now number 1,669, containing about 400 instruments in 
each. The register of deeds is Thomas F. Temple, who has been in office 
since January, 1871. The assistant register is Charles W. Kimball. The 
register of deeds is elected by the people for a term of three years. 

The Correctional Institutions are conspicuous objects on Deer and 
Rainsford Islands, in the harbor. The House of Industry is a large brick 
building, well arranged for the purpose for which it was built. The House 
of Reformation for Girls, near by, is of wood ; and there is also, in the 
group, a brick schoolhouse for truant boys, a brick workshop and receiving 
house, and other buildings. Several of the pauper institutions are also on 
these islands. The House of Correction at South Boston is an elaborate 
building, thoroughly equipped, and has a steam-engine of twenty-horse- 
power in its workshop; and adjoining the House of Correction is a Lunatic 
Hospital. For the year ending April 30, 1884, the cost of the House of 
Industry was $182,126, and its income $21,437; cost of the House of Cor- 
rection $96,209, and income $61,698; and cost of the Lunatic Hospital 
$59,998, and income $5,542. 

Fort Warren is the lowest fort in the harbor, situated at its entrance, on 
George's Island. It has been built since 1850. Its stone-work is of granite, 
and it has a comely and substantial appearance. During the war of the 
Rebellion it was especially used for the confinement of Confederate prisoners. 
Among the most distinguished of the latter were Mason and Slidell, the 
Confederate commissioners to England, captured on board "The Trent." 

Fort Independence is on Castle Island, nearer the city, almost 0])posite 
South-Boston Point. This island has been fortified since 1634. Castle 
William, which stood here when the Revolution broke out, was fired by the 
retiring British, on the evacuation of Boston, and entirely destroyed. 

Fort Winthrop is on Governor's Island, oj)posite Fort Independence. 
It is but partly built, work having been suspended while Jefferson Davis 
was secretary of war, before the breaking-out of the Rebellion. It was 
intended to be the strong-est fortification in the harbor. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 95 



EJ}e %\\\\^^ of tijc ffittu* 

BOSTON COMMON, PUBLIC GARDEN, PARKS, SQUARES, MONU- 
MENTS, STATUES, AND FOUNTAINS. 

THE need of a grand public park, or series of parks, of generous propor- 
tions and on an elaborate scale, has long been felt; and the question of 
establishing such parks has been agitated for several years. In 1869 the 
subject was brought formally before the city government, but no action 
reached. Feb. 17, 1874, a commission, consisting of the mayor, two alder- 
men, three councilmen, and three citizens at large, was appointed to con- 
sider the question ; and on the 25th of November they reported in favor 
of laying out a park in some part of the territory between Arlington Street 
and Parker's Hill, in the Roxbury district, and also of a series of parks 
of moderate size between the third and fourth mile circles of the city. On 
this report no action was taken by the city council, owing to the lateness 
of the season. The next year an act was obtained from the Legislature, 
granting the city leave to purchase land for a park or parks. This act was 
accepted by the people ; and three commissioners were appointed to locate, 
under certain conditions, one or more parks. This , commission simply 
recommended a series of parks in different sections of the city, to be con- 
nected by a park road. Owing to the depression in business, nothing 
further was done in the matter until 1877, when the city council authorized 
the Park Commissioners, under whose charge all the city parks and public 
grounds will probably be placed, to purchase not less than one hundred 
acres of land or flats in the Back-bay district, at a cost of not over ten cents 
a foot, for the establishment of a public park. At the same time a loan of 
$450,000 was authorized to meet the purchases. In February, 1878, the 
commissioners were authorized to make further expenditures for the same 
p.irk; $16,000 more being appropriated for land, and $25,000 for filling, 
grading, surveying, and laying out. The park will be bounded on all sides 
by public avenues, and will occupy a portion of the area between Beacon 
Street, Brookline Avenue, Longwood Avenue, and Parker Street, with 
entrances from each. The beginning of this park is regarded as a long 
stride towards the much-desired series of magnificent parks, which will add 
greatly to the beauty, health, and enjoyment of an already beautiful and 
healthful metropolis. The next move, it is expected, will be the improve- 
ment of the strip of flats known as the Charles-river embankment, begin- 



96 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

ning from Leverett Street, and extending along the border of Charles River 
to Cottage-Farm Station, a distance of nearly 2| miles, with an average 
width of 200 feet. An act was passed by the Legislature of 1881 enabling 
the city to begin this notable improvement. It is proposed to utihze the 
stone in the abandoned Beacon-hill reservoir in building a large portion of 
the sea-wall of the embankment. The plans contemplate a beautiful river- 
side resort, which will add much toward making Boston what it is fast 
coming to be, the most attractive city on this continent. In the summer of 
1881 the city council appropriated various sums, amounting to $1,500,000, 
the proceeds to be devoted to the carrying-out of the several park schemes, 
exclusive of the Back-bay park, under consideration since the estabhshment 
of the Park Commission in 1875. These are the West-Roxbury, City-Point, 
Brighton, and East-Boston parks, the Muddy-river improvement, the Charles- 
river Embankment, and the Arnold Arboretum. Of the several schemes, the 
West-Roxbury Park is the most extensive. The chosen site for this park is 
one of the most picturesque within the city limits. Its features are a gentle 
valley, nearly a mile in length, and of an average breadth, between the steeper 
slopes of the bordering hills, of less than a quarter of a mile. It is in many 
respects a remarkable expanse of tranquil, park-like, natural scenery. Of 
the proceeds from the loan of $1,500,000, it is proposed to set aside $600,000 
for the purchase and development of this tract. The next in importance is 
the proposed marine park at City Point, South Boston, which is regarded as 
the most eligible position in the harbor for a water-front esplanade. For the 
Brighton Park it is proposed to take a tract of 180 acres, to be connected 
with the driveway about the Chestnut-hill Reservoir and the general park- 
system; and for East Boston a tract of 50 acres has been bought by the 
Park Commissioners. The proposed Muddy-river improvement is along the 
line of that river, partly within the limits of the city and the town of Brook- 
line. It is proposed to take about 100 acres of land here, and, in improving 
them substantially and attractively for park purposes, abate a nuisance, and 
at the same time connect the Back-bay improvement appropriately with land 
already owned by the city on Jamaica Pond. The Arnold Arboretum scheme 
resulted in the acquisition by the city without cost of about 120 acres of 
diversified land which belonged to Harvard University; the condition l:eing, 
that about 44 acres of additional land be purchased at a cost of about $50,-' 
000. The city of Boston is to build the roads within this area, and police 
the grounds. Harvard University is to maintain there a collection of all the 
trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants which will thrive in the open air in this 
latitude ; and the public is to be admitted to the grounds with as mucli free- 
dom as is consistent with the safety of the collections. It is a very beautiful 
supplement to the park-system. The deliglitful West-Roxbury Park was 
opened in May, 1883, and is reached by the Oakkand-garden Higliland 
horse-cars, or the Forest-hills line. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 97 

The total amount spent by the Park Commissioners, from the organiza- 
tion of the board, Oct. 8, 1875, to Jan. i, 1885, was $2,821,935.77. Of this 
amount, $1,479,013 was devoted to the Back-bay, $774,895 to the West- 
Roxbury Park, $182,437 to the Marine Park at South Boston, $128,102 to 
the Charles-river Embankment, $70,405 to the Wood-island Park at East 
Boston, $73,754 to the Bussey Park, and $90,030 to the Riverdale improve- 
ments. It appears that the largest appropriation in this great outlay has 
been made for the Back-bay, which will not be ready for public use and 
enjoyment for a long time to come ; the operations of filling up the great salt- 
water basin, and then creating on the new gravelly plain a beginning of 
landscape-gardening, having been found very costly and slow. The necessity 
for providing for the outlet hereabouts of the water-drainage of several 
small streams emptying into the Charles, and the traversing of the new 
public domain by several grand avenues and railway-tracks, highly com- 
plicated the problem of a proper distribution of the resources of the 
commission. The conspicuous features of the locality — such as the mag- 
nificent Boylston Bridge — are already beginning to make themselves 
apparent. When the park and the Charles-river and Cambridge Embank- 
ments are finished, this locality will be one of the most beautiful in the 
world. 

The Marine Park, at City Point, has been cleared of the buildings that 
encumbered it, and is in a certain sense open to, and enjoyed by, the 
people of South Boston, although as yet unadorned. The United-States 
War Department has refused to allow the city to occupy Castle Island, and 
connect it to the Marine Park by a causeway; but it is hoped that further 
negotiations may be more successful. 

Wood-island Park, at East Boston, is as yet hardly more than a play- 
ground for neighboring boys. It is planned as the terminus and consumma- 
tion of Neptune Road, the future pleasure-drive of the people of East 
Boston. It is a fine hilly promontory, bordered by the harbor and marshy 
ground, and is to have boat-piers, ball-ground, running-tracks, driving-course, 
and other provisions for public pleasure. 

The Charles-river Embankment improvements are progressing slowlv, 
and will in time provide a recreation-ground for the crowded population of 
the West End and North End. The building of the sea-wall and filling-in 
was commenced in 1885. 

The West-Roxbury Park has already become an important feature in 
the city's development. Some of its chief features are "thus mentioned 
in the Park Commissioners' Report, dated 1885 : — 

" The highest point within the park limits is on the Sargent Rocks, at 
the northerly end, near tlie corner of Walnut Av^enue and Seaver Street, 
where an altitude of 196 feet above sea-level is reached, and from which a 



98 A'/NG'S HANDBOOK OF BOS 7^0 N. 

general slope, diversified with liills and dales, is maintained to tlic h)w level 
of 48 feet at the extreme southerly end, — a total fall of nearly 150 feet. 
The view from the highest point at the ground-level is intercepted by the 
trees which cover this section; but the old tower still standing commands a 
fine panorama stretching from the hills of Milton and Brookline on the south 
and west to the harbor and bay on the north and east, and including the 
city and adjacent country. 

" The rocky ground on the westerly side, near Glen Road, rises to a 
height of 186 feet, whence a fine view to the westward is obtained, the view 
eastward being obstructed by the dense woods of oaks and pines covering 
this part of the grounds. The land is here wild and rugged, having pictur- 
esque glens and deep ravines, with high and precipitous slopes of rock, 
rising abruptly in some places from 60 to 100 feet. The lowest point in the 
park (34 feet) is in this section, near the corner of Forest-hills and Williams 
Streets. The woodlands here also are of the largest gi-owth and greatest 
extent, covering about 60 acres. The highest point on the easterly side is 
near the stone tower on the Seaver-street and Blue-hill-avenue corner, over- 
looking a valley to the west interspersed with groves and isolated copses. 
The view from the top of the stone tower is more extended, commanding 
the park-lands and farther country to the Blue Hills. The highest grounds 
at the southerly side are on a hill of 158 feet, and on the rock near the 
corner of Scarborough and Morton Streets, which is 136 feet high, and 65 
feet above the ground at its base. The country here is quite well covered 
with groves of deciduous trees, mostly oaks, interspersed with a few large 
pines. 

"Three shelter-houses have been erected on eminences commanding 
extensiv^e views, and generally visible from all parts of the park. One of 
these is near Walnut Avenue, another at the ball-field near Glen Road, and 
the third on the hill near Scarborough Street. The Sewall house on Blue- 
hill Avenue, between Glen Road and Williams Street, will lie fitted up early 
in the season with a refectory and conveniences for the refresliment of 
visitors to the ])ark. Tlie house, standing on a hill of 16S feet elevation, 
commanding i)icturesque views, is well adapted for the purpose, and con- 
veniently located near the Highland street»railway station. 

"The park has been largely used by the comnnniity during the past 
season. It is thronged on Sundays and holidays, and tlie number of week- 
day visitors is increasing. Additional grounds have been provided for 
ball-playing and- tennis, and the picnic-groves have been almost constantly 
occupied by school-picnics and children's excursions. The Church house, 
at the corner of Forest-hills and Morton Streets, was placed at the disposal 
of a society for giving mothers and children a holiday in the country, and it 
was occupied regularly Ihioiigli the season." 



KING'S HANDBOOK Of B0S7VN. 



99 



The Park Commissioners are chiefly well-to-do citizens : this year they 
include Benjamin Dean (chairman), Patrick Maguire, and John F. Andrew. 
Their secretary and clerk is George F. Clarke; and their office is room 38, 
New-England Life-insurance building. 

The Boston Common, of which the people of Boston are justly proud, 
is a natural park, whose undulating surface, covered with green grass and 
shaded by over 1,000 tine old elm-trees, forms a scene of rare rural beauty 
in the very centre of the busy city. There is scarcely a foot of the forty- 
eight acres in its area that is not endeared to the Bostonian by some per- 
sonal or historic association. There are five malls, or broad walks, bordered 
with noble trees; and these are known as the Tremont-street, Park-street, 
Beacon-street, Charles-street, and Boylston-street malls. The Beacon-street 
mall is the most beautiful. The entire Common is surrounded by an iron 
fence, 5,932 feet in length. On the Tremont-street side there is a low iron 
fence, with numerous entrances. The objects of special interest in the 
Common are nu- 

merous. On Flag- ^^-^.^^^^^v/' 

staff Hill is the 
great Soldiers' and 
Sailors' Monument, 
described in this 
chapter. Near the 
Park-street mall is 
the Brew^er Foun- 
tain, which was pre- 
sented to the city 
by the late Gardner 
Brewer. It was 
cast in Paris, and 
is a bronze copy 
of a fountain de- 
signed by Lienard 
of that city. At 
the base there are 
figures represent- 
ing Neptune and 
Amphitrite, Acis 
and Galatea. The 
Frog Pond, a picturesque sheet of water near Flag-staff Hill, adds much 
to the beauty of the Common. On special occasions a fine jet of water 
is made to play near the east end of the pond. The astonishingly ugly 
Cogswell Fountain was erected in 1884, at the head of West Street, and 




The Frog Pond, Boston Common. 



TOO KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

supplies ice-water to the tliirsty passers-by. The Central burying-ground, 
referred to in the chapter on cemeteries, adjoins the deer-park. The 
portion of the Common between Flag-staff Hill and the Charles-street mall 
is used as a parade-ground by the State militia. It was formerly used as 
a play-ground for the boys. Near the "long walk" from Joy Street to 
Boylston Street there is a band-stand, where on summer evenings free 
open-air concerts are given at the city's expense. There are over 200 
benches and several drinking-fountains in various parts of the grounds. 
During the warm weather the children find much delight in the Punch-and- 
Judy show, the camera obscura, etc., on the Tremont-street mall, near the 
West-street gate. The Old Elm which stood near the "long walk," at the 
foot of Flag-staff Hill, was in its day considered the '' oldest inhabitant" 
of Boston. It was a tree of unknown age, and was believed to have stood 
there before the settlement of the town in 1630. It was already decrepit 
as long ago as 1755. It was over 72 feet high, and measured 22^ feet in 
circumference one foot above the ground. After resisting many a storm, 
it was blown down in the winter of 1876. An iron fence surrounds the spot 
where it stood, and where now a shoot bids fair to flourish in its place, 
and thus perpetuate the line of family descent. The history of Boston 
Common is full of interest. When the city charter was drawn up, a clause 
was inserted making the Common public property forever, and placing it 
beyond the power of the city either to sell or give away. The original 
use to which the land was put was for a pasture of cattle, and for a 
parade-ground of the military. It was called Centry Field, and in 164c 
embraced the land east of Park Street as far as the Tremont House, and 
was bounded by the water of the Charles River, where Charles Street 
now is, on the west. On the Tremont-street side it extended to where 
Mason Street now is. Before the Revolution it was enclosed by a wooden 
fence. Drake, in his entertaining " Landmarks of Boston," recalls the 
fact that a part of the forces that captured Louisburg assembled on the 
Common ; the troops that conquered Quebec were recruited here by Am- 
herst ; it was the mustering-place for the conflicts which ushered in the 
American Revolution, and the fortified camp which held the beleaguered 
town in subjection. It is associated with the deep horrors of the witch- 
craft executions, and with the eloquence of Whitefield. From the foot of 
the Common the British troops embarked for Lexington the night before 
April 19, 1775. On the Common were arrayed the British forces engaged at 
Bunker Hill before they crossed the river. In the dreary winter of 1775-76 
there were over 1,700 red-coats behind their earthworks on the Common, 
waiting for Washington to attack the town. On Flag-staff Hill was a 
square redoubt ; near the Frog-pond was a powder-house. Trenches were 
made all along the water-front, where on sunny afternoons the pensive 



r/iVG'S HANDEOOK OF BOSTON. 



lOI 




I02 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

tramp now slumbers on the benches of the Charles-street mall. Other 
reminiscences of past events with which the Common is associated will 
readily occur to the reader. During the British occupation, Gen. Gage 
was successfully appealed to by the Boston boys in behalf of their right of 
coasting on the Common, — a right which is still enjoyed. In 1728 Henry 
Phillips, a nephew of Peter Faneuil, killed Benjamin Woodbridge in a duel 
with rapiers, near the Old Elm ; the quarrel arising from a love-affair. In 
1766 the repeal of the Stamp Act was brilliantly celebrated on the Common, 
which was also the scene of a great celebration in 1848, when the Cochituate 
water was first introduced into the city. 

The Public Garden is an improvement of comparatively recent date, 
though long ago contemplated. Nearly all the work of beautifying it has 
been done within the past fifteen years. It was marsh-lands and flats a 
hundred years ago. For twenty years, from 1795 or thereabouts, the terri- 
tory was occupied by five long rope-walks. The town granted the lands, 
rent free, to the rope-makers, after the destruction of their buildings in Pearl 
and Atkinson (now Congress) Streets by fire, in 1794, for two reasons, — to 
prevent the erection of buildings in a district they endangered, and to help 
the crippled proprietors. When, in 18 19, these rope-walks, in turn, were 
burned, the holders decided not to rebuild, but to cut up the territory into 
building-lots, and sell it for business and dwelling purposes ; its value having 
been greatly enhanced by the opening of Charles Street in 1804, and the 
Mill-dam project then under way, which, when completed, would convert the 
marshes and flats into dry lands. The territory then commanded a beautiful 
view of the Charles and its shores beyond; and the idea of transforming it 
into a public garden was conceived. The people s^trongly objected to the 
rope-makers' scheme, and in 1824 decided, by a popular vote, that the lands 
should not be sold for building purposes ; and the city, by paying $50,000, 
the sum awarded by referees, to whom the rope-makers' claim was referred, 
regained possession of the territory which the town had given away. The 
agitation for buildings and residences on this territory still continued, how- 
ever; and it was not until 1859 that the question was settled finally, by act 
of the Legislature and vote of the city. The Public Garden now is one of 
the most attractive spots in the city. While the Common is a park of stately 
trees and broad walks, this is, precisely as its name incHcates, a public gar- 
den, with dainty flower-beds, plants, shrubbery, grass-plats, stretches of 
closely-clipped lawns, and narrow winding gravel paths. In its midst is a 
pretty pond, irregularly laid out; and in the summer-time this is bright with 
gayly-canopied pleasure-boats. An iron bridge, with granite piers and 
imposing design, spans it; and the winding walks along its margin, and the 
seats under the few large trees near its brink, arc much sought on pleasant 
afternoons. Near the central path, from the Arlington-street entrance 



A'/NG'S HAND BOO A' OF BOS TO A'. 




I04 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON 



across the bridge to Charles Street, is the most interesting fountain in 
the garden. It is so arranged that it throws a fine spray over and about 
a small and graceful statue of Venus rising from the Sea, producing a 
very pleasing effect. There are also several other statues, which will be 
described farther on in this chapter. The area of the Public Garden is 
about 24I acres ; and it is bounded by Charles, Boylston, Arlington, and 
Beacon Streets. 




The Public Garden. View irom Boylaton Street 

Other Parfts in the city proper are small, and are frequented chiefly by 
residents in their immediate neighborhood. At the South End are Franklin 
Square, on the east side of Washington Street, bounded by Washington, 
James, East Brookline, and East Newton Streets; and Blackstone Square, 
on the west side of Washington Street, bounded by Washington, West 
Brookline, West Newton Streets, and Shawmut Avenue. There was a hot 
skirmish here in 1775 between the American and British troops. Each has 
a fountain, and contains about 2t acres. Worcester Square, between Wash- 
ington Street and Harrison Avenue, and Union Park, between Tremont 
Street and Shawmut Avenue, each containing over ^ of an acre; and Ches- 
ter Square, between Tremont Street and Shawmut Avenue, containing about 
i^ acres — are modest parks, the last the most extensive and ambitious in 
its adornments, with roadway on each side lined with fine residences, 
some of them quite elegant in appearance, and costly. In the centre of 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



^05 




Chester Park are a beautiful fountain and a fish-pond ; and the place is much 
frequented by the pretty children and trim nursery-maids of the neighbor- 
hood. At the West End, on Cambridge, corner of Lynde Street, in front 
of the West Church, is a bit of a park, old-fashioned, with trees and 
shrubbery well-grown, known as Lowell Square. At the junction of Tremont, 
Clarendon, and Montgom- 
ery Streets, is an open space 
called Montgomery Square. 
Throughout the length of 
Commonwealth Avenue ex- 
tends a strip of park land, 
beautifully adorned with 
trees and shrubbery, and 
ornamented with statues 
and fountains. 

In South Boston are two 
attractive parks, especially 
noteworthy for the superb 
views they command of the 
city and the harbor. One, 
on Telegraph Hill, is known 
as Thomas Park : and the 
other, on Broadway, Second, 

M, and N Streets, is called ?o^r^^^^u, Blackstone Square. 

Independence Square. 'Ihe first contains about 4^ acres, and the second 
6^ acres. There is also, bounded by Emerson, Fourth, and M Streets, a 
small park called Lincoln Square. The largest squares in East Boston are 
Central Square, at Meridian and Border Streets, containing \ of an acre ; 
and Belmont Square, bounded by Webster, Sumner, Lamson, and Seaver 
Streets, of almost the same area. These are enclosed by iron fences, and 
their paths are well shaded. Other squares in East Boston are Putnam 
Square, located at Putnam, White, and Trenton Streets ; Prescott Square, 
at Trenton, Eagle, and Prescott Streets ; and Maverick Square, at Sumner 
and Maverick Streets. 

Through annexation Boston became possessed of several local parks 
and squares, which had received much attention from the old municipali- 
ties. Some of these have been further improved since annexation, and 
all have received the same care bestowed upon the parks and squares 
of the city proper. In the Roxbury district, the largest is Washington 
Park, at Dale and Bainbridge Streets, containing more than 9 acres. 
Other parks in this district are Orchard Park, at Chadwick, Orchard-park, 
and Yeoman Streets, containing over 2 acres ; Long^vood Park, at Park 



io6 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

and Austin Streets, about h an acre ; Walnut Park, between Washington 
Street and Walnut Avenue; Bromley Park, from Albert to Bickford Streets ; 
Lewis Park, Highland and New Streets ; and Linwood Park, Centre and 
Linwood Streets. Madison Square, situated at Sterling, Marble, Warwick, 
and Westminster Streets, includes nearly 3 acres ; and Fountain Square, 
Walnut Avenue, from Monroe to Townsend Streets, embraces about 2| 
acres. Around the stand-pipe of the Cochituate Water-works, on the " Old 
Fort " lot, between Beech-glen and Fort Avenues, is a little j^ark tastefully 
laid out. 

In the Dorchester district the principal park, or square as it is called, is 
on Meeting-house Hill, one of the landmarks in this historic section of the 
present city. Here stands the soldiers' monument. On the top of the hill 
known as Mount Bowdoin is a square pleasantly laid out, and commanding 
a grand view of the harbor, the city, and the Blue Hills. 

In the Charlestown district the largest park, or square, is near " The 
Neck." It is bounded by Main, Cambridge, Sever, and Gardner Streets; 
contains about i^ acres enclosed by an iron fence, and is known as Sulli- 
van Square. In Winthrop Square, containing about ^ of an acre, bounded 
by Winthrop, Common, and Adams Streets, is situated the soldiers' and 
sailors' monument. One of the oldest squares, at the head of Bow, Main, 
and Chelsea Streets, is City Square, which, hke the others, is enclosed by 
an iron fence, and is trim and inviting in appearance. 

The only park in the Brighton district is called Jackson Square. It is 
pleasantly situated on Chestnut-hill Avenue, Union, and Winship Streets, 
and is enclosed by a stone curb. The walks and drives about the Chestnut- 
hill Reservoir, elsewhere described, are also much enjoyed by the residents 
of this district. 

Boston is richer than most American cities in works of art exposed in 
her public ways and parks, though not so rich as she ought to be, and will 
probably be in the course of a few years. The finest piece of statuary in 
the city, displayed out of doors, is 

The Equestrian Statue of Washington, by Thomas Ball, which is placed 
in the Public Garden, at the Arlington-street entrance, opposite Common- 
wealth Avenue. It is said to be the largest piece of its kind in America. 
The movement for its erection began in the spring of 1859. The first sub- 
stantial contribution to the fund was from the receipts of an oration by 
Robert C. Winthrop in the Music Hall that year; and, in November follow- 
ing, a great fair for its benefit was held with gratifying success. The city 
appropriated )? 10,000; and $5,000 of the surplus money of the Everett statue 
fund, given after the completion of that work, brought the fund up to the 
required amount. The contract with Ball was made in 1859, and four years. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



107 



after he had completed the model: but, owing to the war, the casting was 
delayed; and it was not until 1869, on the 3d of July, that the statue was in 
place and unveiled. It was regarded as a matter for special congratulation, 
and not a little boasting, that all the work upon it was done by Massachu- 
setts artists and artisans. The height of the statue is 22 feet, and with the 
pedestal reaches 38 feet. The foundation is of solid masonry, resting on 
piles eleven feet deep ; and the pedestal itself is a fine piece of work. 

The Daniel Webster Statue, in the State-House grounds, facing Beacon 
Street, is of bronze, by Hiram Powers. It was the second of Webster 
executed by the sculptor, the first having been lost at sea while being 
brought from Leghorn. It was placed in position in 1859, and cost $10,000. 

The Horace Mann Statue, erected in 1865, also in front of the State 
House, was the work of Emma Stebbins ; and the fund for its execution was 
raised by contributions from school-teachers and children throughout the 
State. The State paid for the pedestal. The statues within the State House 
are mentioned in the sketch of the State House, in another chapter. 

The Alexander Hamilton Statue was the first placed in Commonwealth 
Avenue. It is of granite, by Dr. Rimmer, and is said to have been the first 
in the country cut from that material. It was presented to the city by 
Thomas Lee, in 1865, and was put in place at his expense. On the sides 
of the substantial granite pedestal are the following inscriptions : — ■ 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON, 


ORATOR, WRITER, SOLDIER, JURIST, 


BORN IN THE ISLAND OF 


FINANCIER. 
ALTHOUGH HIS PARTICULAR 


NEVIS, WEST INDIES 


PROVINCE WAS THE TREASURY, 


11 JANUARY 1757, 


HIS GENIUS PERVADED THE WHOLE 


DIED IN NEW YORK 12 JULY 1804. 


ADMINISTRATION OF WASHINGTON. 



The Edward Everett Statue, in the Public Garden, on the Beacon-street 
side, is by W. W. Story, modelled in Rome in 1866, cast in Munich, and form 
ally presented to the city, and put in place in November, 1867. The statue 
fund was raised by popular subscription in 1865, with remarkable success, 
and grew so large that there was a surplus after the completion of the work, 
out of which a portrait of Everett for Fan^uil Hall was paid for, $5,000, as 
elsewhere stated, given to the Washington equestrian statue fund, and 
$10,000 given to the Governor Andrew statue fund. The Everett statue 
has been sharply criticised, though it has many admirers. It represents 
the orator as standing with his head thrown back, and his right arm 
extended and raised, in the act of making a favorite gesture. 



io8 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

The John Glover Statue, on Commonwealth Avenue, is by Martin Mil- 
more, and was given to the city by Benjamin Tyler Reed in 1875. It is of 
bronze, of heroic size, and represents the sturdy old soldier in Continental 
uniform, with the heavy military overcoat hanging in graceful folds from his 
shoulders. His left leg is advanced, with the foot resting on a cannon ; and 
in his right hand he holds his sword, the point resting on the ground, while 
the empty scabbard is grasped in his left. The inscription is as follows: — 



JOHN G LOVER, 

OF MARBLEHEAD, 
A SOLDIER OF THE REVOLUTION. 



HE COMMANDED A REGIMENT OF 
ONE THOUSAND MEN RAISED IN THAT TOWN, 

KNOWN AS THE MARINE REGIMENT, 

AND ENLISTED TO SERVE THROUGH THE WAR; 

HE JOINED THE CAMP AT CAMBRIDGE, JUNE 22. 1775, 

AND RENDERED DISTINGUISHED SERVICE IN TRANSPORTING 

THE A,^MY FROM BROOKLYN TO NEW YORK. AUG. 28, 1776, 

AND ACROSS THE DELAWARE, DEC. 25, 1776. 

HE WAS APPOINTED BY 

THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. A BRIGADIER GENERAL, 

FEBRUARY 21, 1777. 

BY HIS COURAGE, ENERGY. MILITARY TALENTS 

AND PATRIOTISM, HE SECURED THE CONFIDENCE OF 

WASHINGTON, 

AND THE GRATITUDE OF HIS COUNTRY. 

BORN NOVEMBER 5, 1732, 
DIED AT MARBLEHEAD, JANUARY 30, 1797. 



The statue stands on a substantial granite pedestal. 

The Aristides and Columbus Statues in Louisburg Square, which ex- 
tends from Mount Vernon to Pinckney Street, are specimens of Italian art, 
which were imported by the late Joseph lasigi, long a prominent Boston 
merchant, and given to the city. 

The Benjamin Franklin Statue, to the left of the path leading to the 
main entrance of the City Hall, is by Richard S. Greenough, and was cast 
by the Ames Manufacturing Company of Chicopee, Mass. It is a large 
statue, eight feet high, standing on a granite pedestal, capped with a block 
of verd-antique marble. The four bas-reliefs represent as many periods of 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



109 




I. Bunker Hill, Charlestown. 2. Alex. Hamilton, 3. Gen. Glower, Commonwealth Ave. 4. Army 
and Navy, Charlestown. 5. Gov. Andrew, State House. 6. Benj. Franklin, front of City Hall. 



MONUMENTS AND STATUES IN BOSTON. 



no 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON 



Franklin's career. This statue was publicly inaugurated in 1856. A simi- 
lar statue of Josiah Ouincy has been placed on the right of the path. 

Of private work publicly displayed, the most noteworthy are the three 
typical figures in granite on the front and top of Horticultural Hall, corner 
of Tremont and Bromfield Streets, representing Flora, Ceres, and Pomona, 
cut by Martin Milmore ; and the figure of the Saviour, copied from Thor- 
waldsen, on the apex of the pediment of the Church of the Immaculate 
Conception on Harrison Avenue. 

The Ether Monument was presented by Thomas Lee to the city, in 
1868. It is a fine piece of work, and well placed on the Public Garden, on 
the Arlington-street side, towards Beacon Street. On one side is this 
inscription : — 



TO COMMEMORATE 

THE DISCOVERY 

THAT THE INHALING OF ETHER 

CAUSES INSENSIBILITY TO PAIN. 

FIRST PROVED TO THE WORLD 

AT THE 

MASS. GENERAL HOSPITAL 

IN BOSTON, 
OCTOBER A.D. MDCCCXLVI. 



On each of the sides are medallions, well executed in marble, representing 
the physician and the surgeon operating upon the sick and injured, under the 
influence of ether ; and the shaft is surmounted by two admirably modelled 
fiofures. The monument is of granite and red marble. 

The Army and Navy Monument, erected by the City of Boston in mem- 
ory of her sons who fell in the civil war, stands on Flag-staff Hill in the 
Common. Martin Milmore of Boston was the sculptor. The shaft is of 
white Maine granite, and reaches a height of over 70 feet. The foundation 
is of soUd masonry, cruciform in shape, built up from a depth of 16 feet to 
the ground level. On this is a platform of stone, covering an area 38 feet 
square, and reached by three steps. From this platform rises a plinth, nine 
feet high, with projecting pedestals at each of the four corners. These 
pedestals are ornamented upon the sides and front with carved wreaths of 
laurel. Upon them stand four bronze figures, each eight feet high, repre- 
senting Peace, History, the Army, and the Navy. The statue of Peace 
represents a female figure, robed in classic drapery, seated on a stone. Hei 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



Ill 



right arm is raised and extended, and in her hand she holds an oHve-branch 
toward the south. The figure representing the Muse of History also occu- 
pies a sitting position, and is clad in simple Greek costume. The left hand 
holds a tablet which rests upon the knee ; in the right is a stylus. A wreath 
of laurel encircles the head. The face is turned slightly away and upward, 
as if in meditation. The statue of the Sailor faces the sea. It is in an easy 
attitude, the right hand resting upon a drawn cutlass, whose point touches 
the ground, the left hand supported by the hip. The naval costume is well 
executed. The army is represented by the figure of a Soldier, standing at 
ease, with overcoat, belt, and accoutrements. His musket rests upon the 
ground. One hand clasps its barrel; the other 
rests upon the muzzle. On the four sides of 
the plinth, between the pedestals, are bronze 
?nez20-relievos, 5 feet 6 inches in length by 2 
feet 6 inches in width, symbolical of incidents 
of the war. That on the front of the monument 
represents the departure of troops for the war, 
and introduces the portraits of Gov. Andrew, 
Archbishop Williams, A. H. Vinton, D.D., 
Phillips Brooks, D.D., Wendell Phillips, Henry 
W. Longfellow, and others, standing on the 
State House steps, while with the troops march- 
ing by are Gen. Butler, Gen. Reed, Col. Cass, 
Col. Shaw, and Gen. Chas. Russell Lowell. The 
relief symbolizing the works of 
the Sanitary Commission has 
two parts ; one showing the 
prominent members of the 
commission from Boston in 
consultation, the other repre- 
senting the work in the field. 
Portraits are given of Gov. 
Rice, James Russell Lowell, 
Ezra H. Gannett, D.D., E. R. 
Mudge, George Ticknor, Mar- 
shall P. Wilder, Col. W. W. 
Clapp, the Rev. E. E. Hale, and 
several ladies. The " Return 
from the War " is the most 
elaborate relief. It represents 
a regiment drawn up in front of the State House. On the steps are Gov. 
Andrew, Dr. Edward Reynolds, Henry Wilson, Gov. Claflin, Mayor Shurt- 




nd Navy Monument, Boston Common. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



leff, Judge Putnam, Charles Sumner, and others. Gens. Banks, Devens, 
Bartlett, and Underwood are on horseback. The fourth relief commemo- 
rates the achievements of the navy, and has two parts. The left-hand por- 
tion shows a group of ii figures, and represents the departure of sailors 
from home ; while on the right is a view of a naval engagement. 

On the plinth rests the pedestal proper, 14 feet 3 inches high, terminating 
in a surbase. The sides of the die are panelled. In that facing the south 
is cut the following inscription, written by Charles W. Eliot, president of 
Harvard University : — 



TO THE MEN OF BOSTON 

WHO DIED FOR THEIR COUNTRY 

ON LAND AND SEA IN THE WAR 

WHICH KEPT THE UNION WHOLE 

DESTROYED SLAVERY 

AND MAINTAINED THE CONSTITUTION 

THE GRATEFUL CITY 

HAS BUILT THIS MONUMENT 

THAT THEIR EXAMPLE MAY SPEAK 

TO COMING GENERATIONS 



From, the surbase of the pedestal rises the granite shaft, which is of the 
Roman-Doric order. About its base are grouped figures in alto-relievo., 
representing the four sections of the Union, — North, South, East, and 
West. Sculptured wreaths surround the shaft at irregular intervals. The 
capstone is a circular block of granite, 2 feet 1 1 inches high and 5 feet in 
diameter. On this stands the bronze ideal statue of the Genius of America, 
which was cast in Philadelphia, and is 1 1 feet high, representing a female 
dressed in a flowing robe. Over the robe is a loose tunic bound with a gir- 
dle at the waist. A heavy mantle, clasped at the throat, is thrown back over 
the shoulder, and falls the full length of the figure behind. On the head is 
a crown with 13 stars. In the right hand, which rests upon the hilt of an 
unsheathed sword, are two laurel wreaths. The left hand holds a banner 
draped about a stafiF, which reaches to a height of 6 feet above the head. 
The face fronts towards the south, and the head is slightly bowed. The 
cost of the entire monument was $75,000. The corner-stone was laid Sept. 
18, 1 87 1, on which occasion there was a great parade. The dedication took 
place Sept. 17, 1877, when over 25,000 men marched in the procession, in- 




I. Fountain, Union Square. 4. Fountain, Chester Square. 5. Fountain, Sullivan Square 

2. Dorchester Soldiers' Monument. 3. Harvard Monument. 

MONUMENTS AND FOUNTAINS IN BOSTON. 



114 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON 

eluding the militia of the State, the veterans of the Grand Army, the lead- 
ing generals of the civil war, the State and city officials, civic societies, the 
school children, etc. The procession marched over a route more than six 
miles long, and was four hours in passing a given point, all delays excluded. 
The principal feature of the dedication ceremonies was an oration by Gen. 
Charles Devens. 

The Bunker-Hill Monument stands in the centre of Monument Square, 
on Breed's Hill, where the redoubt was thrown up by the Americans on the 
night before the battle. It is 221 1 feet high, and 6,700 tons of Ouincy 
granite were used in its construction. The base is 30 feet square, and the 
column tapers gradually to 15I feet at the apex. Inside the shaft is a hollow 
cone, surrounding which is a spiral flight of 295 stone steps ascending to a 
chamber 11 feet square and 17 feet high, whence a beautiful view is obtained 
on a clear day from the four windows. The capstone of the apex, above this 
observatory, is in one piece, and weighs 2I tons. The room contains two 
small cannon, the inscriptions on which tell their story. The corner-stone 
of the monument was laid June '17, 1825, by Gen, Lafayette; and the oration 
was by Daniel Webster. The work was under the direction of Solomon 
Willard. The monument cost over ^150,000. It was dedicated June 17, 
1843, on which occasion Daniel Webster was again the orator, President 
Tyler and his cabinet being present. The centennial anniversary of the 
battle, on June 17, 1875, li''^s been referred to. The monument is under the 
charge of the Bunker-hill Monument Association. At its foot a modest 
slab marks the spot where Gen. Warren was killed. 

The Harvard Monument, to the memory of John Harvard, erected from 
subscriptions of graduates of Harvard College, is situated on the top of the 
hill in the old graveyard near the State prison, in the Charlestown district. 
It is a solid granite shaft. On the eastern face is inscribed the name John 
Harvard, and on a marble tablet the following words : — 

ON THE TWENTY-SIXTH DAY SEITEMBER A.D. 1828 

THIS STONE WAS ERECTED BY THE 

GRADUATES OF THE UNIVERSITY AT CAMBRIDGE 

IN HONOR OF ITS FOUNDER 

WHO DIED AT CHARLESTOWN 

ON THE TWENTY-SIXTH DAY OF SEPTEMBER A.D. 1638 

On the western side is an inscription in Latin, of which the following is 
a free translation : " That one who merits so nmch from our literary men 
should no longer be without a monument, however humble, the graduates of 
the University of Cambridge, New England, have erected this stone, nearly 
two hundred years after his death, in pious and perpetual remembrance 
of John Harvard." At the dedication of this monument, Edward Everett 
delivered the oration. * 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 115 

The Charlestown Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument stands in VVinthroTj 
Square, once the old militia training-ground, set apart in colonial days. On 
a high pedestal stands a group of three figures, the "Genius of America" 
holding out laurel wreaths above the soldier and sailor standing on each 
side. The sculptor was Martin Milmore. The monument is of Hallowell 
granite, and cost $20,000. The dedication took place on the ninety-seventh 
anniversary of the battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1872; and the address was 
by Richard Frothingham, On the occasion of the memorable centennial 
celebration of the battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1875, the Fifth Maryland 
Regiment, of the visiting military organizations from the South; placed upon 
this monument a beautiful floral shield, as a token of their good-will towards 
their Northern guests, and as a tribute to the Northern heroes who had 
fallen in the unhappy civil conflict. The act was gracefully performed, with- 
out ostentation. "The Marylanders," the local press of the day reported, 
" visited Charlestown very quietly, notifying nobody beforehand, and going 
entirely without escort. They carried with them a magnificent floral shield, 
composed of white and carnation pinks, inscribed ' Maryland's tribute to 
Massachusetts,' and marched to Winthrop Square, in which stands the 
beautiful monument erected by Charlestown to the memory of her sons who 
fell in the military and naval service during the war. Here the regiment 
halted, forming three sides of a square around the monument; the band 
played a dirge, and the regiment stood at parade rest, while the shield was 
reverently laid on the monument. Then the orders were given, 'Atten- 
tion ! ' ' Carry arms ! ' ' Present arms ! ' After this simple, beautiful cere- 
mony, the regiment departed." 

The Dorchester Soldiers' Monument stands in the large open space in 
front of the church on Meeting-house Hill. Its foundation, 5 feet deep, is 
laid upon a ledge of rock. It is of red Gloucester granite, is 31 feet high, 
and 8 feet square at the base. The form is that of an obelisk. Its heavy 
base has square projections at the angles supporting four buttresses, each 
with an upright cannon in half relief. Between these are raised polished 
tablets with the names of Dorchester's fallen soldiers. Above the tablets 
are garlands of laurel in relief. A heavy cornice caps the die containing 
the tablets, and above is a second die with ornamental scrolls at the cor- 
ners. On the four faces of the die are round panels with sunken marble 
tablets having appropriate inscriptions and symbols. The shaft, an obelisk, 
which rises from the second die, is 4 feet square at the base, and has tw^o 
projecting belts, the lower one with a large star in relief on each face, and 
the upper the shield of the United States. The style of the monument is a 
dignified Renaissance, and the architect was B. F. Dwight. The dedication 
took place on Sept. 17, 1867; the oration being delivered by the Rev. Charles 
A. Humphreys of Springfield. 



ii6 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



The Roxbury Soldiers' Monument is on Sycamore and Poplar Avenues, 
Forest-hills Cemetery. In the centre of a lot containing over 2,000 square 
feet, on a granite pedestal about six feet high, stands a bronze infantry sol- 
dier of heroic size. The statue was designed by Martin Milmore, cast at 
Chicopee, Mass., and erected in 1867, after the old city of Roxbury had 
become incorporated with the municipality of Boston. On the front and 
the reverse of the pedestal are the following inscriptions : — 



ERECTED 
BY 


" FROM THE HONORED DEAD 


THE CITY OF ROXBURY 


WE TAKE INCREASED DEVOTION 


IN HONOR OF 


TO THAT CAUSE FOR WHICH 


HER SOLDIERS, 


THEY GAVE THE LAST FULL 


WHO DIED FOR THEIR COUNTRY 

IN THE REBELLION OF 

1861-1865 


MEASURE OF DEVOTION." 

Abraham Lincoln, 

at Gettysburg, 
Nov. 1863. 


1867 



The lot is enclosed by an emblematic granite railing, and contains the 
bodies of a score of Roxbury soldiers. On the base of the railing the name 
of each person buried, with his regiment, and date of death, is chiselled and 
gilded. Nearly half of those lying here (members of the Thirty-fifth Regi- 
ment Mass. Vols.) fell at Antietam in less than a month after their departure 
from the State. This monument is elaborately decorated on Memorial Day 
by Thomas G. Stevenson Post 26 of the G. A. R., when a miniature flag 
is placed on each grave. 

The West-Roxbury Soldiers' Monument is at the corner of Centre and 
South Streets, near Curtis Hall, formerly the town hall, Jamaica Plain. 
The monument, in Gothic style, is 34 feet high, of light gray granite, except 
the base, which is of the dark Ouincy stone. The ground plan is square, 
and the chief feature is a massive structure supporting a sort of pyramidal 
pedestal on which stands the statue of a soldier leaning on his gun, in pen- 
sive contemplation of the loss of his comrades. On each of the four sides 
of the monument is a pointed archway opening into a vaulted chamber. In 
the gables above the arches are the names of Lincoln, Andrew, Thomas, and 
Farragut. At the corners are four pinnacles ornamented with military tro- 
phies in rehef. In the vaulted chamber stands a stone of Italian marble 
inscribed with the names of the West-Roxbury men who fell during the 
war. The monument is 34 feet high. The architect was W. W. Lummis. 
The dedication took place on Sept. 14, 1871, the principal feature being an 
address by James Freeman Clarke. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 1 17 

The Brighton Soldiers' Monument was erected in Evergreen Cemetery 
the year after the close of the war, and was dedicated on July 26, 1866, when 
the oration was delivered by the Rev. Frederick Augustus Whitney. The 
monument has a square base, two courses high, with projections at each 
corner supporting cannon-balls. Upon this base is a pyramidal plinth with 
its four sides covered with inscriptions, and names of the Brighton soldiers 
who died in the war. This supports a square shaft, on the die of which are 
national trophies in relief; and on a ball, at the top of the shaft, rests an 
eagle. The monument is 30 feet high, and cost ^5,000. 

The Charles Sumner Statue stands in the Public Garden, near Boylston 
Street, and faces Beacon Street. It is of bronze, 9^ feet high, representing 
Sumner in a firm, graceful attitude, with his left hand in front clasping a 
roll of manuscript. The pedestal is of Ouincy granite. The cost was 
$15,000, raised by contributions of the people. Three prizes of $500 each 
were offered for the three most approved designs ; and they were awarded 
to Miss Anne Whitney, Martin Milmore, and Thomas Ball, the last named 
being selected as the sculptor. At the unveihng of the statue, Dec. 23, 
1878, there were no formal ceremonies, but an historical sketch of the statue 
was read by Gov. A. H. Rice. 

The Josiah Quincy Statue was erected in front of the City Hall, 
Sept. 17, 1879. Its cost of $18,000 was defrayed by the income of a fund of 
$20,000 left in i860 by Jonathan Phillips to adorn and embellish streets and 
public places. This fund now amounts to nearly $50,000. The statue is 
of bronze, and the pedestal of Italian marble, both designed by Thomas Ball. 

The Norsemen Statue and Fountain was to have been erected in Post- 
office Square, to commemorate the supposed visit of the Norsemen to 
New England, about the year 1000. The enterprise contemplated a statue, 
of bronze, representing Leif, son of Eric, who first colonized Greenland, 
wearing the ancient armor of the Norsemen, — a shirt of mail, a two-edged 
sword, and the pointed helmet of that people. The pedestal was to have 
been of rough granite, richly incrusted in bronze, with grape vines, leaves, 
and clusters ; and water was to fall from twisted vine-stems. 

The Statue of Col. Robert G. Shaw, by Auguste St. Gaudens, is soon 
to be erected upon the State-house grounds, facing the area immediately in 
front of the main gate. It is to be an alto 7'elief in bronze, representing 
Col. Shaw mounted, with accessory panels representing the presentation of 
the colors of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment, of which Col. Shaw was 
colonel, by Gov. Andrew, and the assault upon Fort Wagner. Committees 
of citizens are also at work to secure the erection of an equestrian statue of 
Paul Revere ; and a statue of Theodore Parker, on one of the South-End 
squares. A statue of William Lloyd Garrison has been modelled, and will 
soon be placed in position. 



ii8 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON 



The Emancipation Group, erected in Park Square in front of the Provi- 
dence Railroad passenger-station, is by Thomas Ball, and was a gift to 
the city by Moses Kimball. Its cost, exclusive of the curbing, which was 
furnished by the city, was $17,000. It is of bronze, on a granite pedestal, 
and is a duplicate of the " Freedman's Memorial " statue in Lincoln Square, 
in Washington, D.C. It represents the erect form of Abraham Lincoln 
spreading out his right hand over the head of a kneeling freedman with his 
shackles broken. On the pedestal is the word " Emancipation." On the 
base are these words : " A race set free • and the country at peace • Lin- 
coln • rests from his labors." It was unveiled Dec. 6, 1879; Mayor F. O. 
Prince delivering the oration. 

The Samuel Adams Statue, by Miss Anne Whitney, stands in Adams 
.... . - Square in New Wash- 

ington Street. The Rev- 
olutionary patriot is 
presented as clothed in 
the citizen's dress of his 
period, and standing 
erect with folded arms. 
He is portrayed just 
after he has demanded 
of Gov. Hutchinson the 
removal of British 
troops from Boston, and 
is awaiting the English- 
man's answer. The sta- 
tue is of bronze, and is 
a counterpart of that by 
the same artist at Wash- 
ington. Inscriptions are 
placed on each of the 
four panels of the 
pedestal as follows: 
" Samuel Adams • 1722- 
1803 • A patriot • He 
organized the Revolu- 
tion and signed • the 
Declaration of Inde- 
pendence • Governor * 
880 • From a fund bc- 
Phillips • i\ statesman 
Its 




i^i^fli^ 



Samuel Adams Statue, Washington Street. 

A true leader of the people • Erected A.D. 



queathed to the city of Boston • by Jonathan 

incorruptible and fearless." This statue was unveiled on July 5, 1880 

cost was $6,856. 




I. Emancipation Statue, Park Square. 2. Col. Wm. Prescolt, Foot of Bunker-hill Monument. 

3. Josiah Quincy, Front of Cily Hail. 4. Gov. John Winthrop, Scollay Square. 

STATUES IN BOSTON. 



120 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



The Gov. Winthrop Statue, by Richard S. Greenough, in Scollay Square, 
is of light bronze, on a pedestal of polished red granite, and a base of Quincy 
granite. It represents the first governor landing from the ship on the 
soil of the New World. The figure is clad in the picturesque garb of 

that period ; the right hand 
holding the roll of the 
colony charter, and the left 
bearing the volume of the 
Scriptures. Behind the figure 
is shown the base of a newly- 
cut forest-tree, with a rope 
attached, significant of the 
fastening of the boat in which 
he was supposed to have just 
reached the shore. The sta- 
tue is a duplicate of that 
placed by the State in the 
Capitol at Washington. It 
was put in place on Sept. 17, 
1880. Its cost was $7,391. 

The Col. William Pres- 
cott Statue, by W. W. Story, 
stands in the main path of 
the grounds in front of 
Bunker-hill Monument, and 
on the spot where the hero 
is supposed to have stood 
Charles Sumner Statue. while encouraging his men at 

the opening of the battle of Bunker Hill. It is intended to represent him at 
the moment he uttered the memorable words, "Don't fire till I tell you; 
don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes ! " The statue is of bronze, 
nine feet in height, and stands on a high granite pedestal. It was unveiled 
with appropriate ceremonies on the 17th of June, 1881 ; Robert C. 
Winthrop delivering the oration. 




KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON l2t 



W(^t iMtnti of tl}e Citg/ 

THE LIBRARIES, ART AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS, AND 
MUSICAL SOCIETIES. 

T N the number and extent of its libraries, Boston stands at the head of 
-L American cities, and will even bear comparison with European capitals. 
In none of the latter are the libraries so accessible to all, and few are so well 
arranged, as those of Boston. This fact makes the New-England metropolis 
the most desirable centre on the American continent for the scholar and 
student; and the possession of these great institutions has done much to 
give Boston its position as a seat of literature and science, — a position it 
promises to maintain. In the city and in Cambridge, which is so near that 
its libraries are almost as accessible as those of the city, there are three 
large libraries containing about three-quarters of a million books, besides 
several hundred thousand pamphlets. Then there are many large special 
libraries, all of which are easily available for any one having occasion to use 
them. 

The Boston Public Library, on Boylston Street, opposite the Common, 
is, if its branches be included, the largest library in America, and an institu- 
tion much appreciated by the reading public, for its advantages are free to 
all. Its establishment was authorized in 1848, and it was opened in 1852 
on Mason Street. Edward Everett was the first president of the board 
of trustees. The present building was completed in 1858, at a cost of 
$365,000. In 1852 Joshua Bates of London gave the Hbrary $50,000, and 
subsequently $50,000 worth of books. Mr. Everett gave 1,000 books at the 
outset. Theodore Parker willed over 12,000 volumes to the library. George 
Ticknor gave nearly 7,500 books, including his valuable Spanish collection. 
The sons of Dr. Nathaniel Bowditch gave their father's library of over 
2,500 books and manuscripts. Abbott Lawrence bequeathed $10,000 to the 
institution. Mary P. Townsend gave $4,000, and Jonathan Phillips $30,000. 
The library has had deposited with it the Prince collection, willed in 1758 
by the Rev. Thomas Prince to the Old South Church ; and has purchased 
the Thomas P. Barton library of 12,000 volumes, including the best Shake- 
sperian collection in this country, and much early French literature. The 
library building, of brick with sandstone trimmings, has two lofty stories 
and basement, and measures in the main building 82 by 128 feet. On the 
first floor are an entrance-hall, distribution-room, lower library-room, and 



122 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

two large reading-rooms. On the second floor is Bates Hall, where most 
of the books are stored in 60 alcoves and 6 galleries. The library, with its 
eight branches, containing more than 453,935 volumes, is supported by the 
city's annual appropriation of $120,000 or more. In 1873 an appropriation 
was made of $30,000 for an addition to the building. Two members of the 
city council are always on the board of trustees, which comprises seven 
members, who oversee and control the library business, subject to city 
ordinances. The Board of Trustees of the Boston Public Library was in- 
corporated in 1878; thus making the institution partly independent, and 
making it more difficult for the city council to interfere with the administra- 
tion of the institution. The executive force of the library consists of about 
150 persons, organized as 2 central staff under the chief librarian, and (also 
subordinate to him) eight branch staffs with their librarians. In the eight 
branch libraries, at East Boston, South Boston, Roxbury (to which the Fel- 
lowes Athenaeum has been added), Charlestown district, Brighton district, 
South End, Jamaica-Plain district, and the Dorchester district, besides the 
eight librarians there are about 50 assistants. More than two-thirds of the 
persons employed are women. Quarterly bulletins showing the most im- 
portant accessions, and other partial catalogues or " class-lists," are issued, 
such as History and Biography, Fiction, Prince Library, etc. ; also branch 
catalogues ; but no complete single catalogue in book-form is issued or 
intended. Instead, there is a card-catalogue, with subjects and authors 
alphabetically arranged, in drawers, which are open to the public. There is, 
besides, an official card-catalogue. About 1,300,000 issues a year are now 
recorded, and an average of only one book is lost out of every 16,000 de- 
livered. The central reading-room, supplied with all the principal American 
and foreign periodicals, is open every day in the week. C. C. Jewett was 
the first superintendent; and at his death, in 1868, he was succeeded by 
Justin Winsor, the present librarian of Harvard University. In 1877 Mr. 
Winsor resigned, and Dr. Samuel A. Green temporarily acted as superin- 
tendent. In August, 1878, Mellen Chamberlain was elected librarian, — the 
term "superintendent" being dropped in the act of incorporation. The 
State has given the city a lot of land on Dartmouth and Boylston Streets for 
the erection of a new Public Library building of sufficient capacity to accom- 
modate the accumulations of the immediate future. The Boston library is 
by far the largest in the world for free circulation. Edward Capen was libra- 
rian for the first six years, and remained in the institution until 1874. 

The Boston Athenaeum, which grew out of a reading-room established 
by the Anthology Club, was incorporated in 1807. For some years it in- 
cluded a library, a museum of natural history and of curiosities, philosophi- 
cal apparatus, and models of machines, and also an art-gallery ; but as other 
societies, specially devoted to these different objects, were founded, the 




THE BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY, BOYLSTON STREET. 



124 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



Athenaeum transferred to them its various collections. The building now 
contains only the library of 145,000 volumes, and a few pictures, busts, and 
statues, serving for decoration. Although the right to use this library is 
confined to the 1,049 shareholders ^nd their families, — about 750 of whom 
pay the annual assessment that entitles them to take books from the build- 
^^ ing, — nevertheless stran- 

gers, especially students and 
authors, are always welcome, 
and given access to the read- 
ing-rooms and collections. 
The income-producing funds 
of the Athen^um are nearly 
$500,000 ; and the value of 
the real estate, books, paint- 
ings, and statuary is $521,- 
354. The library, each year, 
adds about 5,000 volumes, 
and circulates about 40,000 
volumes. The library-room 
was first in Congress Street ; 
afterwards, in 1 821, on Pearl 
Street, in a house given by 
James Perkins, where the 
society remamed until the completion, in 1849, of the present handsome 
building on the south side of Beacon Street, between Bowdoin and Somer- 
set Streets. The library of George Washington, purchased by the corpora- 
tion in 1848 at a cost of $4,000, is one of the many interesting collections 
that have come into the possession of the Athena?um. The present libra- 
rian is Charles A. Cutter, who has filled the position for the past 15 years. 
Samuel Eliot is the president, and Dr. Robert W. Hooper vice-president. 

The Massachusetts Historical Society, the oldest historical society in 
America, was founded in 1791, by a few scholarly gentlemen, with the object 
of preserving for reference all books, pamphlets, manuscripts, and otliex 
materials containing historical facts. The library now contains over 28.000 
books and 60,000 pamphlets. The Dowse collection, given by the late 
Thomas Dowse, in 1856, comprises nearly 5,000 finely bound volumes, and 
many choice works. Most of the books are of an historical character, a 
specialty being made of local histories, and histories of the civil war. The 
membership is limited to 100, but the library may be used for reference by 
any one. It is managed by a council of the ofificers and an executive com- 
mittee of five. A librarian, two assistants, and a janitor are employed. 
The society for several years met in the attic of Fancuil Hall; afterwards in 




The BostoT Ath naeum Beacon Street 




KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 125 

Hamilton Place, and then in Franklin Street. In 1833 tlie present quarters 

on Tremont Street were occupied. The society has many relics of historic 

interest, such as King Philip's samp-bowl, a gun used at the capture of Gov. 

Andros by the Bostonians in 1689, a silk flag presented by Gov. Hancock 

to a colored company called the '" Bucks of 

America;" the swords of Miles Standish, ' ' ■■' 

Gov. Carver, Gov. Brooks, Col. Church, and 

Sir William Pepperrell ; the desk used by the 

successive speakers of the Representatives 

in the Old State House ; and portraits of 

Govs. Endicott, Winslow, Pownall, Dummer, 

Belcher, Winthrop, Hutchinson, Strong, 

Gore, etc. Here also are the crossed swords 

(celebrated by Thackeray, " The Virginians," 

chap, i.) of the American Col. Prescott and 

the British naval captain Linzee, ancestors of 

-r^ . . . . .^ . . The Speaker's Desk. 

Prescott the historian. Very interesting are 

the original marble busts of Sir Walter Scott, by Chantrey, and George 
Peabody, by Powers. The society possesses the diary of Judge Sewall, 
who presided at the witchcraft trials in 1792, and the earliest issues of the 
first American newspaper. The building has been entirely rebuilt in a most 
substantial manner within a few years, and is thoroughly fireoroof. The 
Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, sixth in descent from Gov. John Winthrop, the 
founder of Boston, was president 1 855-1 885, when he resigned, and was suc- 
ceeded by Rev. Dr. George E. Ellis. The librarian is Dr. Samuel A. Green. 

The State Library of Massachusetts is in the State House, and contains 
65,000 volumes. It was established in 1826. The class of books is solid 
and useful ; for example, United States, State and Territorial statute-books, 
legal documents, law-reports, works on political economy, education, social 
science, the acts of the British Parliament and British Colonies, and the 
French Archives Parlementaires. C. B. Tillinghast is acting librarian. 

The Social Law Library is in the Court House, on Court Square, and 
consists of 20,000 law-books. It was incorporated in 1814, and contains 
many rare books. Its collections are open to members and to many others. 
The librarian is F. W. Vaughan. 

The Boston Medical Library Association, founded in 1875, ^^s at 5 
Hamilton Place until 1878. It then purchased the house at No. 19 Boyl- 
ston Place, and fitted up reading-rooms, and a hall for the meetings of the 
chief medical societies of the city. The library contains 16,000 volumes and 
12,000 pamphlets, being the sixth medical library in the United States, and 
receives regularly 300 periodicals. It is intended to be the headquarters of 
the medical profession of the State. Dr. James R. Chadwick is the librarian. 
The directory for nurses here has 420 nurses registered, 



126 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



The New-England Historic Genealogical Society, incorporated in 1845, 
is at No. 18 Somerset Street. Its specialty is New-England local history 
and genealogy, including heraldry. The house, built in 1805 for a dwelling, 
was purchased by the Society in 1870, and was remodelled and dedicated 
the following year. It is of brick, three stories high, 29 by 42 feet in dimen- 
sions, with an L in the rear. The front is faced with an artificial stone 
resembling grayish sandstone, and has Nova-Scotia sandstone trimmings. 
_ _ ^^ _ ^^ On the first floor is a fire-proof vault for 

~ the storage of rare books and manu- 

scripts ; on the second, the library 
proper; and on the third, a hall for the 
meetings of the Society. The cost of 
the building and furniture was $43,000. 
An extension costing $25,000 more was 
begun in 1885. The library contains 
20,000 volumes and 60,000 pamphlets, 
relating to the history and the influence 
of New-England character and life. The 
Society publishes annually the New-Eng- 
land Historical and Genealogical Regis- 
ter. Its Towne Memorial Fund is used 
in printing memorials of its deceased 
members. For seventeen years past, 
Marshall P. Wilder, LL.D., has been 
the president ; and to him the Society is 
indebted for its good financial condition, 
and especially for his services in raising 
-^ " ^ '''"''' the sum of $80,000 for the building and 

N.E. Historic-Genealogical Society, Somerset St. librarian funds. Benjamin B. Torrey is 
the treasurer, and John Ward Dean the librarian. The library and archives 
are open freely to the public. 

The Congregational Library w\as organized in 1853, and is the property 
of the American Congregational Association. It was intended to gather and 
preserve the writings and mementos, — indeed, every thing available,- — that 
would state and illustrate the principles and work of the Pilgrims and Puri- 
tans in laying the foundations of our free institutions. It has never had any 
funds with which to purchase books. Every dollar has been used to meet 
necessary running expenses, and pay for the Congregational House ; the 
library waiting for an income from rents when the building is paid for. Its 
books and pamphlets are largely ecclesiastical, historical, expository, doc- 
trinal, and biographical, — a library of reference rather than popular reading. 
For consultation it is free to all. The payment of one dollar secures its 




KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 127 

general privileges. Its building is fireproof, and has a collection of over 
30,000 books and more than 130,000 pamphlets, besides the unique and 
valuable missionary library, of 7,000 volumes, belonging to the American 
Board. The librarian is the Rev. I. P. Langworthy. 

The General Theological Library, No. 9 Somerset Street, contains over 
13,000 volumes, mostly of a theological, religious, or moral character. It is 
used by members and annual subscriberso There is also a reading-room 
with about 75 periodicals. The library was instituted in i860. The Rev. 
Luther Farnham has been the librarian from the beginning. Many rural 
churches of New England are connected with this library. 

The Boston Library Society was founded in 1794, and for a longtime 
occupied rooms over the Arch, in old Franklin Street. It is now located at 
No. 18 Boylston Place, close to the Public Library, and has about 25,000 
volumes. Shares in this library cost $25, and are liable to a small annual 
assessment. 

The Boston Society of Natural History has a library in its building on 
Berkeley Street, containing 20,000 books and 6,000 pamphlets on natural 
history. The use of the library, which was established in 1831, is confined 
to members of the society. 

Other Libraries. — There are a large number of other libraries of both 
general and special character. The Boston Museum of Fine Arts has 
recently begun the collection of works on art ; and the Boston Art Club has 
a valuable library of the same class. Several of the musical societies have 
good collections of works on music. All the public schools — notably the 
Boston Latin, and Girls' High and Normal, and nearly all of the Sunday 
schools, charitable and municipal institutions, as w^ell as the various scien- 
tific, social, and religious societies — have their own libraries. Some of 
these, owing to their special character, are quite valuable. 

Art and Science have gained a strong foothold in Boston ; and in fact, 
as a centre of science, she ranks the first city in America, and of art second 
to none, not excepting even New York. Besides Harvard University in 
Cambridge, there is in Boston a long list of art and scientific institutions, 
and clubs and societies devoted to the special sciences and fine arts. 
The city, as a corporation, maintains various schools of industrial and 
mechanical drawing; and the study of drawing is thoroughly pursued in 
all the. public schools. There is also a school of w^ood-carving for boys, 
maintained by private beneficence. Several fine picture-galleries are con- 
nected with the establishments of fine-art dealers, and the city is the home 
of a large number of artists, many of whom have national reputations. 

Of the leading art and scientific institutions, excepting the Institute of 
Technology, w^hich is referred to in the chapter on educational institutions, 
comprehensive sketches are given below. 



128 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

The Boston Museum of Fine Arts, corner of Dartmouth Street and 
St. James Avenue, is one of the most admirable institutions of modern 
Boston, though it is as yet but the beginning of what is to become the 
chief pride and delight of New England. The accompanying illustration 
shows the building as it will appear when completed. At present only one- 
fourth of it is finished, namely, the section fronting on St. James Avenue. 
It is one of the finest structures in the city. The principal material is red 
brick ; and the mouldings, copings, and all the ornamental work, are of red 
and buff terra-cotta, imported from England. The two large and artistically 
executed reliefs on the facade represent various figures appropriate to such 
a building. One shows the " Genius of Art," with illustrations of the art 
and architecture of all nations, from antiquity to the present day. Among 
the figures representing the nations, America is the only female ; and she 
holds in her hand Powers's " Greek slave," The other bas-relief represents 
"Art and Industry " joined. In the roundels are the heads of the most 
distinguished artists and patrons of art ; the Americans being Copley, Craw- 
ford, and Allston. This terra-cotta work was the first used on a large scale 
in America, and is said to be very durable and not costly. It is certainly 
effective, and gives to the exterior a rich and unique appearance. 

The main entrance is given a rich and handsome appearance by white 
marble steps, and polished granite columns, v.dth terra-cotta capitals. Auto- 
matic recording turnstiles admit the visitor to the central hall, whence broad 
iron staircases ascend -to the upper floor. The rooms on the first floor are 
devoted to casts, statuary, and antiquities ; those on the second floor to 
paintings, engravings, productions of industrial art, and bric-a-brac. In the 
central hall are Thomas G. Crawford's statue of Orpheus, Miss Harriet 
Hosmer's " Will-o'-the-Wisp," the "Young Columbus" of Giulio Monte- 
verde, and various other interesting objects. In tlie Egyptian Room is a 
valuable and interesting collection of Egyptian antiquities acquired by the 
late Robert Hay of Scotland, purchased after his death, and presented to 
the Museum by Charles Granville Way. This collection is supplemented 
by numerous fragments of sculpture collected in Egypt by the late John 
Lowell, the founder of the Lowell Institute, and presented to the Museum 
by his family. The mummies and mummy-cases, with their hieroglyphics, 
the scarabaei, amulets, sepulchral figures, canopic vases, stamped cones, and 
the granite sculptures, especially that of the lion-headed goddess Pasht, 
form a remarkably instructive collection. 

In the First Greek Room are casts from the oldest Greek sculptures, 
including the famous lions of Mycenae and pediment-groups from^Egina; 
also several Assyrian reliefs of great antiquity. In the Second Greek Room 
are the famous Olympian casts, and the Faun of Praxiteles (Hawthorne's 
Marble Faun'"). In the Third Greek Room are casts of the bas-reliefs 



|'"|"|' "'lli'% 




130 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

from the frieze of the Parthenon; the grand Theseus, the river-god Ihssus, 
the torso of Victory, and two of the three Fates, from the pediments of the 
Parthenon ; the colossal bust of Jupiter, from the Vatican ; and the \'enus 
of Milo. The Fourth Greelc Room contains two great friezes, the Ron- 
danini Medusa, the Discobolus, the Barberini Faun, etc. The Fifth Greek 
Room contains casts of the Apollo Belvedere, the Mattei Amazon, Menan- 
der, the Crouching Venus, the Laocoon, Diana, the Dying Gladiator, and 
other subjects. In the Roman Room are reproductions of works of the 
ancient Roman sculptors, the busts of the Emperors, the Capitoline Venus, 
Antinoiis, the Pudicitia, etc. At the east end of the main floor is the 
great Architectural Room, with exquisite details from classic. Renaissance, 
Gothic, and Saracenic architecture, forming one of the finest collections 
in America. In the Renaissance Room are Michael Angelo's "Day" and 
" Night," and " II Penseroso," and his head of David ; and many works of 
Donatello and others. In the Greek Vase Room is a collection of antiqui- 
ties from the island of Cyprus, exxavated by Gen. di Cesnola; a lot of 
vases and other objects of Etruscan art, presented by J. J. Dixwell ; and a 
collection of Graeco-Italian fictile painted vases, found by Alessandro Cas- 
tellani in the tombs of Etruria and Campania, presented by T. G. Appleton 
and Edward Austin ; also, a case of exquisite Tanagra figurines ; and several 
thousand rare coins of Greece, Egypt, Italy, and Asia, electrotyped from the 
originals in the British Museum. 

In the upper hall are many interesting objects, among which are a cast 
of the second bronze gate at the Baptistery at Florence ; bronze half-figures 
of Virgil and Dante; marble busts of Raphael and Rubens; the famous 
painting " Belshazzar's Feast" by Allston; Benjamin West's " King Lear;" 
the Dowse collection of English water-color drawings, chiefly copies of the 
old masters, bequeathed to the Athenaeum by the late Thomas Dowse; 
Millet's pastels and water-colors ; and many drawings by Rimmer and Hunt. 

The large collection of paintings on the second floor, many of them the 
property of the Museum and others loaned to it by individuals, occupies 
several rooms. In the larger room, to the right of the upper hall, are repre- 
sentatives of Corot, Couture, Fran^ais, Millet, Diaz, Dore, Daubigny, Cour- 
bet, Dupre, Pils, Boughton, Hunt, Kensett, Vedder, Bridgman, Brown, Cole, 
Staigg, and others. Chief among these are Corot's " Dante and Virgil," 
Courbet's " La Curde," and Bastien-LePage's "Jeanne d'Arc." Adjoining is 
the Allston Room, containing Gilbert Stuart's famous and magnificent por- 
trait of Washington, and other Stuart portraits ; portraits by Allston, Copley, 
G. Stuart Newton, John Smibert, Trumbull; and several paintings by illus- 
trious Venetian artists, Veronese and others. The Water-Color Room 
contains, also, the loaned collection of the Dutch oil-paintings from San 
Donato. The contiguous Print Rooms contain the Gray collection of 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 13 1 

engravings, bequeathed to Harvard University, with some engravings and 
etchings by American artists ; the Sumner prints, and many unfinished 
works of Allston. In the main hall to the left of the upi^er hall, is a mag- 
nificent collection of Japanese embroideries ; a fine display of tapestry, once 
the property of Louis Philippe, loaned by the late George O. Hovey ; Per- 
sian fabrics, and small arras tapestry ; a very complete display of pottery 
and porcelain, including majolica and Robbia ware ; and a rich collection of 
Chinese, Japanese, celadon, Dresden, Copenhagen, Berlin, Vienna, Rouen, 
Sevres, Delft, Wedgwood, Chelsea, Worcestershire, Derby, and other wares, 
with an equally full collection of pottery. Other cases contain Chinese and 
Japanese articles, metal-work, cloissonne enamel, electrotype reproductions 
from objects in the South-Kensington Museum, Limoges enamels, medals, 
and bronzes, German and Venetian glass, embroideries, silk textiles, and 
laces. The Lawrence Room is fitted with ancient oak panelling of the 
time of Henry VIII., presented by Mrs. Lawrence. In this and an adjoin- 
ing room are some fine old pieces of sculptured wood furniture, Italian 
bronzes pf the Renaissance period, arms and armor, a pulpit-door, inlaid 
with ivory and ebony, from a mosque at Cairo, and other objects. 

The land on which the Museum stands was given to the city by the 
Boston Water-Power Company, to be used either as a public square or as 
the site of a museum of fine arts. The lot, containing 91,000 square feet 
and surrounded by streets on every side, was granted by the city to the 
trustees in 1870, the year in which the corporation was formed. About 
$250,000 was raised by a public subscription ; and the first section of the 
building, the architects of which are Sturgis & Brigham, was begun in 1871, 
and completed and opened in 1876. 

In 1878 the institution asked the public for only an additional subscrip- 
tion of $100,000, but $125,000 was subscribed; whereupon work was at 
once begun, and by Oct. i, 1878, the St. James Avenue front was all roofed 
in. The new section was opened in the spring of 1879. The corporation is 
administered by a board of trustees, to which are added persons annually 
chosen to represent Harvard University, the Institute of Technology, and 
the Athenaeum, also ex officio the mayor, the superintendent of public 
schools, the secretary of the State board of education, the trustee of the 
Lowell Institute, and the president of the board of trustees of the Public 
Library. The officers are a president, treasurer, honorary director, curator, 
and secretary. There are executive, finance, museum, and library commit- 
tees. The Museum is open daily, on Mondays at noon, and other days 
from 9 A.M. until sunset. On Saturdays, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sundays 
from I to 5 P.M., the admission is free ; at other times twenty-five cents is 
charged. In the Museum building a School of Drawing and Painting has 
been established, under the instruction of Otto Grundmann and F. Crown- 



132 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



inshield, and has proved very prosperous. Martin Brimmer is president of 
the board of trustees ; Henry P. Kidder, treasurer ; Charles C. Perkins, hon- 
orary director; Charles G. Loring, curator: and E. H. Greenleaf, secretary. 
The Representative Art Clubs are the Boston Art Club, whose new 
and elegant club-house, on the corner of Dartmouth and Newbury Streets, is 




Boston Art Club, Newbury Street. 



one of the recently added features of the elegant Back-bay district ; and the 
Paint and Clay Club, whose rooms are at the top of the building No. 419 
Washington Street. The Art Club was organized in 1855, and its quarters 
were long at No. 64 Boylston Street, the present club-house of the Central 
Club. The new house is of a Romanesque style of architecture, of brown 
stone and dark bricks ; and a striking feature of its exterior is an hexagonal 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 1 33 

tower, starting from the second story, and rising to a height of seventy feet. 
The interior of the house is finely arranged, elaborately decorated, and 
sumptuously furnished. Its picture-gallery is one of the finest private 
galleries in the city. The club has now 800 members. The initiation-fee 
is $30 ; annual dues, $30. Henry Hitchings is the president. The Paint 
and Clay Club was organized in the spring of 1880, largely by artists; but 
it was not until 1882 that a constitution was adopted. It is a condition, that 
members shall be connected with art, literature, or music. The club-room 
is artistically arranged. The initiation-fee and the annual dues are each 
$10. J. Ph. Rinn, the architect, is the chairman. His predecessor was 
W. F. Halsall, the marine-painter. The Paint and Clay Club has occasional 
exhibitions in the fine gallery of the Art Club. The Sketch Club, organ- 
ized in 1881, is a club of younger architects. Its rooms are also at No. 419 
Washington Street, directly under the rooms of the Paint and Clay. 

The Boston Society of Decorative Art, organized in 1878, occupies 
rooms at No. 8 Park Square.. The objects form an interesting exhibition 
of needle-work and decorated porcelain and pottery. The society sells these 
articles ; and a committee provides instruction in wood-carving, etc. It is in 
correspondence and has intimate relations with the New-York Society, but 
is an independent organization. Roland C. Lincoln is president, and 
Georgina L. Putnam secretary. 

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences has its rooms in the Athe- 
naeum Building. It is, with one exception, the oldest scientific society in 
America, and stands to the United States in a relation similar to that held 
by the famous academies of France, England, Germany, and other European 
nations, to their respective countries. It was founded in 1780; and among 
its principal early members were Benjamin Franklin, James Bowdoin, John 
Adams, John Hancock, John Quincy Adams, Josiah Ouincy, Nathaniel Bow- 
ditch, John T, Kirkland, Samuel Dexter, and others eminent in science and 
literature. It has members in all sections of the Union, including the leading 
scholars and scientists of the country, and also a large number of honorary 
members in Europe. The society has charge of the awarding of the Rum- 
ford medals, which are paid for from a fund given to it in 1796 by Count 
Rumford, to be devoted to the proper recognition of important discoveries 
in heat and light made on the American continent or the adjacent islands. 
The medals have been awarded but eight times. The president of the 
society is Prof. Joseph Lovering. 

The Boston Society of Natural History occupies a large brick building, 
with freestone trimmings, on Berkeley Street, between Boylston and New- 
bury Streets. The structure, which is 80 feet high and has a front of 105 
feet, is adorned by Corinthian columns and capitals. Over the entrance is 
carved the society's seal, which bears the head of Cuvier ; heads of animals 



34 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



are carved on the keystones of all the windows. A sculptured eagle sur- 
mounts the pediment. The land on which the building stands was granted 
by the State. On the first floor are a lecture-room, library, secretary's office, 
and rooms devoted to geological and mineralogical collections. On the 
second floor is a large hall, 60 feet high, with balconies, and several other 
rooms, in which a grand and valuable collection of birds, shells, insects, 
plants, skeletons, and other objects of interest are on view. The museum 
is open to the public Wednesdays and Saturdays. The society holds fre- 
quent meet- 
ings, publish- 
es books on 
natural his- 
tory, and pro- 
vides lecture- 
courses in the 
season. It 
was incorpo- 
rated in 1 83 1, 
and formerly 
occupied a 
building on 
Mason Street. 
The late Dr. 
\V. J. Walker 
was its chief 
be ne factor, 
giving to the 

association at various times a sum aggregating nearly $200,000. The pres- 
ent building, erected in 1864, cost about $100,000. The president is Samuel 
H. Scudder; curator, Alpheus Hyatt; secretary, Edward Burgess; treas- 
urer, Charles W. Scudder ; and librarian, Edward Burgess. 

The Warren Museum of Natural History is at 92 Chestnut Street. It 
was founded by Dr. John C. Warren in 1846. The present fireproof build- 
ing was erected in 1849, and the institution was incorporated in 1858. The 
skeleton of the great mastodon, — the most perfect specimen known, — 
discovered in 1846 near the Hudson River, at Newburgh, gives peculiar in- 
terest to the collection. The skeleton was bought by Dr. Warren, shortly 
after its discovery, and now stands in the lower hall. Close by are a skeleton 
elephant, and a skeleton horse, for the purpose of comparison. The col- 
lections are otherwise exceedingly valuable. Persons wishing to visit the 
Museum should apply to Dr. J. Collins Warren, 58 Beacon Street, or Dr, 
Thomas D wight, 235 Beacon Street. 




The Boston Society of Natural History, Berkeley Street. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 135 

The Musical Societies of Boston, notably the Handel and Haydn So- 
ciety, and the Harvard Musical Association, enjoy a wide reputation, and 
have contributed much towards the cultivation of the musical taste of the 
public, which has the name of being intelligently critical and of a high order. 

The Handel and Haydn Society is the oldest musical organization in 
the United States, and is the leading choral society in this country, if not in 
the world. It was founded in 1815, and consists of a large mixed chorus 
numbering now about 600 voices. It is devoted to the performance of ora- 
torio and other choral music of an earnest character. During the 69 sea- 
sons since its organization it has given over 650 concerts, the programmes 
of which have included works by nearly all the most eminent composers. 
Since the opening of the Music Hall, in 1852, it has given its concerts in 
that place. The society took part in the opening ceremonies at the New- 
York Crystal Palace in 1854, and also in series of concerts in conjunction 
with the Thomas Orchestra given in Stein way Hall in 1873 ^nd 1882. In 
1868 it gave its first great triennial festival, which lasted a w^hole week, per- 
formances beingf griven afternoons and evenino;s. These festivals have been 
regularly kept up. Carl Zerrahn has been conductor of the society since 
1854, and B. J. Lang has been organist since i860. The headquarters are in 
the Music-Hail building, and the rehearsals are held in Bumstead Hall. 

The Harvard Musical Association, a society whose work in advancing 
the cause of good music in Boston can hardly be over-estimated, was organ- 
ized in 1837. Its beginning was very unpretentious. A few graduates of 
Harvard, who in their college days had been members of the little music- 
club called the " Pierian Sodality," chanced to meet, on Exhibition Day in 
July, 1837, with several of their undergraduate successors in the institution; 
and, in the course of a pleasant conversation on music topics, the idea was 
broached of forming a union between past and present members. The 
proposition met with favor; and on the following Commencement Day, Aug. 
30, 1837, the association was formed. After a while the sphere of the or- 
ganization was enlarged, and the headquarters were removed to Boston. 
The annual dinners of the association have been important features ; and to 
these occasions some of the foremost music enterprises of Boston owe 
their birth. Among these were the building of the Music Hall, the estab- 
lishment of " D wight's Journal of Music," and the giving of classical con- 
certs in regular series. Under the auspices of the association was given the 
first regular course of chamber-concerts in Boston ; and these were suc- 
ceeded by the famous Symphony Concerts, which were continued through 
seventeen seasons, to March, 1882, and added considerably to the associa- 
tion's funds, for concerts and for the enlargement of its fine library of music. 
John S. Dwight has been president of the association for several years, and 
Charles C. Perkins vice-president. 



136 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

The Apollo Club was formed in 1871, and incorporated in 1873, for the 
performance of part-songs and choruses for male voices. It was started by 
a few leading singers in church-choirs in this city, and during its first year 
was composed of 52 active (singing) members, and 500 associate (or subscrib- 
ino-) members, who, for an annual assessment, receive tickets to all the con- 
certs o-iven by the club. The number of active members has varied from 60 
to 70 ; and the number of associate members has always remained 500, that 
limit having been set at the formation of the club. No public concerts are 
given, and no tickets to its performances are sold. It has, on a few occa- 
sions, sung in a semi-public manner, by request of the authorities of the 
State or the City — as at the funeral of Charles Sumner, the centennial cele- 
bration of Bunker Hill, and the State reception to President Hayes in 1877. 
B. J. Lang has been its music-director since its formation. Its member- 
ship has included some of the finest vocalists of this neighborhood among 
its active members, and many of the best citizens among its associates. Its 
success has been such that similar clubs have been formed all over the 
country, several taking the same name. It has convenient club-rooms, and 
a small hall for its private weekly rehearsals, at 151 Tremont Street. Its 
concerts are generally given in Music Hail. 

The Boylston Club, a private musical society, was organized in 1872 for 
the study of music for the male voices alone. Its first public appearance 
was in 1873. In 1876 the purpose and resources of the club were enlarged 
by the addition of an auxiliary chorus of ladies. The club contains three 
distinct bodies, —a complete and carefully trained male chorus, a four-part 
female chorus, and a mixed chorus, so formed that it is in fact a combina- 
tion of two complete choruses, — a first and a second. In its public per- 
formances, each of these three bodies is fully represented. None but 
competent singers are admitted to active membership, and under stringent 
regulations as to attendance at rehearsals. The active membership now 
numbers 90 ladies and 90 gentlemen. In 1878 the club gave a complete 
mass by Palestrina, and the famous B-flat motet of Bach, both of which 
were heard for the first time in this country at the concerts of this club. 
Its purpose is to produce at its performances only such works as stand 
highest in the literature of music. J. B. Sharland was the first, and George 
L. Osgood is the present director. 

The Cecilia Society was organized in 1874 as an auxiliary of the Har- 
vard Musical Association. It consists of a mixed chorus of about 130 
voices, picked from the best solo-singers in Boston. Through its first two 
seasons the society took part in seven of the Harvard Symphony Concerts ; 
but in 1876 the connection with the Harvard Association was dissolved, 
and the society re-organized on a basis similar to that of the Apollo and 
Boylston Clubs, About 250 members were received ; and these, in consid- 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 137 

eration of tickets to the concerts of the society, bear its expenses. Several 
concerts are given in the course of each season; and entrance to them is 
secured only by membership, or by invitation of members. Since its organi- 
zation the society has given compositions of Mendelssohn, Schumann, Du- 
rante, Weber, Gade, Schubert, Bach, Max Bruch, Hoffmann, Liszt, Handel, 
Berlioz, and others. B. J. Lang has been its only musical director. 

The Orpheus Musical Society is the leading musical association among 
the Germans of Boston. It was organized in 1848, and at the start con- 
sisted exclusively of Germans ; but as their number in those days in Boston 
was small, its beginning was rather humble, and in marked contrast with its 
present prosperous circumstances. The excellence of the German music, 
and the delightful sociability that characterized the institution, made it 
remarkably attractive to the American friends of the members ; and they 
were finally admitted to associate membership, and even to full membership 
when their mastery of German proved such as to enable them to join in the 
singing. The society is composed almost half of Americans. While the 
tone of the institution is still thoroughly German, the singing being kept 
exclusively in that language, out of courtesy to the American members the 
official proceedings are now conducted and the records kept in English. 

The Philharmonic Society is an oi^anization for the presentation of 
orchestral music. It is organized like the other musical clubs of the city, 
composed of professional and associate members ; the latter bearing the 
expenses by subscribing each a fixed sum per annum, and receiving in re- 
turn tickets for the season's concerts. It grew out of the Philharmonic 
Orchestra organized in 1879 by Bernard Listemann. The society was 
organized in 1880, and has a large membership, but is not now actively 
engaged in giving concerts. Listemann's Philharmonic Orchestra still 
maintains its organization, also, and has a large and devoted membership. 

The Boston Symphony Orchestra is a permanent orchestra, established 
through the liberality of a single citizen, Mr. Henry Lee Higginson. The 
first season was an experimental one ; and a series of twenty concerts of 
the highest order was given by an orchestra of sixty musicians, under the 
direction of Georg Henschel. This was in 1881. The result was so satis- 
factory that it was determined to make the orchestra a permanent feature. 
The following season the orchestra was strengthened, and a larger number 
of concerts was given. The concerts are given weekly in Music Hall, of 
which Mr. Higginson is the controlling owner. As a means of educating 
the people of New England into the love of and appreciation for classical 
music, this is one of the most valuable and important agencies ; and it would 
be difficult to imagine a more direct and practical method for stimulating the 
aesthetic tastes of lovers of music. The concerts for the season of 1884-85 
were admirably conducted by Herr Gericke, of Vienna. 



^3^ KnVG'S HANDBOOK' OF BOSTON: 

It has been a long step from the ancient Philo-harmonic Society, founded 
away back in 1810, to the broad musical culture of the present day, with 
its score of well-drilled choral societies, skilful orchestras, and sensitive 
Yankee-born cognoscenti. This progress in musical culture has been for- 
warded by a number of very able and devoted teachers, laboring in widely 
different spheres, but each advancing successfully toward the common end. 
Among these leaders were, and are, men as different in aim and character 
as Lowell Mason and Patrick S. Gilmore, Carl Zerrahu and Bernard Liste- 
mann, Georg Henschel and Eben Tourjee, John S. Dwight and Louis Maas. 
The great conservatories of music, and scores of private teachers, have 
given technical education to many thousands of young persons ; and the 
lonely little harpsichord that was imported to Noddle's Island a hundred 
years ago is succeeded by such myriads of pianos that some of the richest 
companies and greatest buildings in Boston are taxed to their utmost to 
keep up the supply. 

Other Musical Societies are the Arlington Club, on the plan of the 
Apollo; the Lotus Glee Club, a quartet of male voices, formed in i88r ; 
and the German organizations, — the Singing Section of the Boston Turnve- 
rein, the Harugari Lied.erkranz, the St. Michel's, the Roxbury Mannerchor, 
the Liederkranz, and the South Boston Liedertafel. 



KING'S Ji AN J) BOOK OF BOSTON. 139 



V(\t Brain of tl)e (JTitg. 

niE aNIVERSITIKS, COLLEGES, l'Ur>LlC SCHOOLS, AND OTill'.K 
ICDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 

''T^HE educational institulions of Boston and its vicinity have, from the 
A earliest thiys, maintained a most prominent and envial)le position. 
After them have been j) itlci"iicd many ol the echicatioiial institutions oi 
other cities of this country, and to thc-ni it lias loni^ been the custom of the 
patriotic lioslonian to "i)oiut wilh pride' This position has been won by 
constant care and attention, a wise and hberal mana<;ement, and a generous 
and inteni<ijent expenditure of money. Boston was tlie first to estal)lish, 
nearly 250 years ago, free schools, open alike to all, since which time her 
schools have been most jealously fostered and cherished ; and now there 
exist within her limits public schools giviiii^ instruction to about 52,000 
pupils, at a cost for salaries alone of $1,250,000, and an annual expenditure 
of over $[,500,000, one university (the Boston University), one college (the 
Boston College), one polytechnic school (the institute of Technology), and 
one normal art school, besides nearly roo private schools, and several free 
denominational schools. There are also a number of special schools, some 
of which have particularly interesting features. \\\ her immediate neighbor- 
hood are the great University at Cambridge, — the first university in the new 
country, which stands to-day the best-endowed and the most extensive insti- 
tution of the kind in America; Wellesley College, at Wellesley; and Tufts 
College, on College Hill, on the line dividing Somerville from Medford. 
This chapter will contain sketches of some of the many prominent an<l char- 
acteristic educational institutions of Boston and its vicinity. 

Harvard University was founded in 1638, and is still administered under 
the charter granted in 1650. The principal seat of the university is at 
Cambridge; but three departments, the Medical School, Dental School, and 
Bussey Institution (a school of agriculture and horticulture), are situated in 
Boston. Through the men who have been trained within its walls, the insti- 
tution has had an important jDart in forming the character and establishing 
the fame of Boston ; and it has itself been deeply influenced in turn by the 
strong public spirit of Boston, and has been built up and directed largely 
by Boston men. For -two generations after the settlement of the country, 
Harvard was the only college in New England; and almost all the native- 
born clergy were educated there, the clergy being the ruling class. A large 



I40 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

proportion of the families which have been eminent in Boston and Massa- 
chusetts are families whose sons, in several generations, have been trained 
at Harvard. Among the scores of such family-names, those of Adams, 
Lowell, Mather, Otis, Prescott, Saltonstall, Warren, and Winthrop may be 
mentioned as having not only a local, but a national, reputation. Among 
individuals who were conspicuous in Boston in their day,^ and earned a fame 
which outlasts their generation, such men as Increase Mather, James Bow- 
doin, John Hancock, John Ouincy Adams, William Ellery Channing, and 
Charles Sumner come at once to mind, all of whom are identified with the 
history of Harvard by the love they bore her and the services they rendered 
her. 

The prevailing intellectual tone or temper of the university, like that of 
the town of Boston, has always been free. The university is hospitable to 
all religious and political opinions ; but its inclination, and that of a majority 
of its graduates, from the earliest times, has uniformly been towards the side 
of liberty in Church and State. The particular manifestation of this inclina- 
tion has changed from generation to generation, but the tendency has been 
constant and plain to be seen. 

While cherished and honored by the State, Harvard University has been, 
from the first, a private, incorporated institution, supported, in the main, first 
by the fees paid by its students, and secondly by the income of permanent 
funds given by benevolent individuals. At the present time the value of its 
lands, buildings, collections, and invested funds is roughly estimated at 
$7,000,000. Its annual receipts from students for instruction are almost 
$250,000, and its total income is upwards of $600,000. It has 160 teachers 
(of whom 55 are professors), besides 26 librarians, proctors, and other 
officers. It counts, in round numbers, [.400 students, of whom about 900 
are pursuing liberal studies, and 500 professional. 

The government of Harvard University may be briefly described as 
follows : The legal title of the corporation is the '^ President and Fellows 
of Harvard College." The corporation,— consisting of the president, fel- 
lows (five in number), and treasurer, — and the board of overseers (thirty- 
two in number), are the governing powers of the whole university, which 
comprehends the following departments: Harvard College, the Divinity 
School, the Law School, the Medical School, the Dental School, the Law- 
rence Scientific School, the Museum of Comparative Zoology, the Bussey 
Institution, the college library, and the astronomical observatory. The Pea- 
body Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology is a constituent part 
of the university ; but its relations to it are affected by peculiar provisions. 
The twenty-second president of Harvard is Charles W. Eliot, who has filled 
the executive chair for the past 15 years. It is within the scope of this 
work to mention only those Harvard buildings that are inside the limits of 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



141 



Boston ; but all of the numerous buildings used by the university are briefly 
described and fully illustrated in a neat hand-book, entitled " Harvard and its 
Surroundings." No catalogue is issued by the university, but an official 
catalogue, containing information regarding all departments of Harvard Uni- 
versity, and complete lists of the officers, faculty, and students, is published 
by Charles W. Sever, proprietor of the University Bookstore, Cambridge. 

The Bussey Institution is at Jamaica Plain, near Forest-hills Station, 
on the Boston and Providence Railroad. It is a school of agriculture and 
horticulture, and was established as a department of Harvard University, 
under trusts created by the will of Benjamin Bussey of Roxbury. In 1870 
the school was organized ; and during the same year a commodious building 
of Roxbury pudding-stone, 112 by J2) feet, in the Victoria Gothic architec- 
ture, was erected. Near this building are the greenhouses, and the great 
farm-barns, occupied by many horses, kept at farm-board. 




The Bussey Institution, Jamaica Plain. 



The main building contains an office, a library of 3,000 special books, recita 
tion and collection rooms, and a laboratory, with storerooms and a glass- 
house attached. The cost of putting up and furnishing these buildings was 
$62,000. In 1872 the University received $100,000 from James Arnold of 
New Bedford, who left that sum to establish in the Bussey Institution a 
professorship of tree-culture, and to create an arboretum which will ulti- 
mately contain all trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants that can grow there 
in the open air. The whole of the Bussey estate recently passed into the 
hands of the University. It comprises 360 acres, of which 137 acres have 



142 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



been assigned for the arboretum, and are now being laid out with walks and 
roadways. With the natural beauties of the estate, it will, as an open park, 
make a delightful resort. The dean of the Bussey Institution is Professor 
Francis H. Storer. 

The Harvard Dental School is on North Grove Street, in a building lately 
the Harvard Medical School. Its basis of instruction is greatly different 
from that of other dental schools. Here the terms of the Dental School 
coincide with those of the other departments of the university, and last for 
nine instead of the usual four months ; and the course is a progressive one 
of two years, no part of the instruction of the first year being repeated in 
the second. Before the student can enter upon his second year he must 
pass a satisfactory examination in the studies of the first year, which are 
identical with those of the first year in the Medical School, and under the 
same professors. Three years of study are necessary for admission to 
examination for a degree, but one year can be passed under a private 
instructor. The faculty includes sixteen instructors, of whom six are pro- 
fessors. The dean of the Dental School is Dr. T. H. Chandler, whose 
office is at the Hotel Bristol. 




The Harvard Dental School, North Grove Street. 



The Harvard Medical School was founded in 1782, as the result of a 
very successful course of lectures delivered in Boston before the Boston 
Medical Society by Dr. John Warren, a brother of Gen. Joseph Warren. 
The school was carried on in Cambridge until 18 10, when it was removed 
to Boston, " to secure those advantages for clinical instruction and for the 
study of practical anatomy which are found only in large cities." In 1816 
it took possession of a building erected on Mason Street, by means of a 



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144 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

grant obtained from the State, expressly for medical instruction. There it 
remained until 1846, when a three-story building was built on North Grove 
Street, upon land given by Dr. George Parkman. In 1883 the school oc- 
cupied its new, spacious, and magnificent building at the corner of Boylston 
and Exeter Streets, on the Back Bay. This is a four-story Renaissance 
edifice, of brick and red-sandstone, with picturesque pavilions, the most 
efficient means of heating and ventilating, and a practically fireproof con- 
struction. Van Brunt & Howe were the architects ; and the amount raised 
for the work was $250,000. The entrance-hall, with its pillars of polished 
gray granite, is architecturally interesting; and there are many details about 
the wliole structure of considerable artistic merit. On the first floor are 
coat-rooms, reading-rooms, library, faculty-room, etc. ; and on the second 
story are the great laboratories. Higher up are the famous Warren Museum 
of comparative anatomy (the best in America, of which the original collec- 
tion, accompanied by $6,000 for its care and increase, was given by Dr. John 
Collins Warren), the anatomical theatre, lecture-rooms, the laboratory for 
anatomical study, and other rooms. The school has 241 students and 43 
instructors, including 12 professors, and has for many years enjoyed a high 
reputation for the efficiency of its teaching and the high professional repute 
of the members of its faculty. The dean of the Medical School is H. P. 
Bowditch, M.D. 

Wellesley College has unquestionably the largest and handsomest build- 
ing in the world devoted exclusively to the higher education of women. It 
is situated in the beautiful village of Wellesley, about 15 miles from the 
Boston City Hall, on Lake Waban. The grounds, comprising over 300 
acres, had for many years been cultivated as a gentleman's country-seat, and 
remind one of an English park. The largest building, with its wings, is 475 
feet long, four and five stories high. It is of brick, trimmed with freestone. 
This building, designed by Hammatt Billings, the "artist architect," and 
considered by him his masterpiece, is celebrated for its superb architecture 
and thorough construction. The college has been successful ever since it 
was opened in 1875. Since 1880 the College of Music, Stone Hall, and 
Simpson and Waban Cottages have been erected. The number of students 
is 482, — the largest number at any woman's college in the world. The 
standard of study is similar to that of the foremost colleges for young fnen. 
The library contains 25,000 volumes. The apparatus, cabinets, and labora- 
tories are extensive, and fully up to the requirements of modern science. 
The college is chartered by the State, and is empowered to confer all the 
collegiate and honorary degrees that are conferred by any Massachusetts 
college or university. The College-Aid Society spends from $6,000 to $7,000 
a year to assist poor girls to secure an education. The college is already 
a national institution, drawing its students from nearly every State in the 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



M5 



Union. The average age of the students is about 20 years. The number 
of teachers and officers is 60. The president is Alice E. Freeman, Ph.D. 




Wellesley College, Wellesley. 

Boston University was founded by Isaac Rich, Lee Claflin, and Jacob 
Sleeper, in 1869, and includes at present three colleges, three professional 
schools, and a post-graduate department of universal science. The College 
of Liberal Arts has already taken a very high position among institutions 
devoted to the highest classical education. The College of Music, estab- 
lished in 1872, is located in the Music-Hall building. This is the only 



institution of its kind in America, being intended for the graduate; 



of the 



146 AVNC'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

ordinary musical colleges and conservatories. The College of Agriculture 
was established in 1875 by an agreement with the Massachusetts Agricultural 
College at Amherst The School of Theology, formerly the Boston Theo- 
logical Seminary, 36 Bromfield Street, was adopted by the university corpora- 
tion in 1 87 1. It is the oldest theological school of the Methodist-Episcopal 
Church, but has long employed lecturers and instructors of other ecclesiasti- 
cal affiliations also. The School of Law was the first in this country to 
present a three-years' course of study. Notwithstanding its strict require- 
ments, its enrolment last year exceeded that of any other law school in New 
England. In September, 1884, it took possession of its pleasant new hall 
at No. 10 Ashburton Place. The School of Medicine was the first one in 
this country to present courses of instruction four years in duration, and 
which (at the end of three-years' courses) confers the degree of bachelor of 
medicine or bachelor of surgery. Most of its Faculty are homoeopathic in 
theory, but its statutes provide for the co-operation of any incorporated State 
medical society in the United States in the testing and graduation of stu- 
dents. The whole number of students attending the Schools of Theology, 
Law, and Medicine has repeatedly exceeded the aggregate of the same 
classes of students in any other American university. The crowning depart- 
ment of the university is the School of All Sciences, organized exclusively 
for post-graduate instruction in liberal studies. With it are associated the 
faculties of the National University at Athens and the Royal University at 
Rome. It is claimed that Boston Lhiiversity was the first in the world to 
organize from the start and throughout without respect to sex. Ex-Gov. 
William Claflin,^LL.D., is president of the board of trustees; and the Rev. 
William F. Warren, S.T.D., LL.D., is president of the university. Jacob 
Sleeper Hall was erected in 1882, at a cost of SSo,ooo, on Somerset Street, 
and is a nearly fireproof brick building, commemorating in its name one of 
the founders of the University. It occupies the site of the First Baptist 
Church, whose lofty spire, higher than the State-House dome, was, until a 
year or two ago, a conspicuous feature in all views of the city. At the dedi- 
cation, in 1882, Gov. Long, Presidents Eliot and Walker, Joseph Cook, and 
other distinguished men, made addresses. It is occupied by the College of 
Liberal Arts, for its studies, class-rooms, collections, chapel, gymnasium, halls, 
and offices; and is fitted up with the utmost commodiousness and much of 
decorative beauty. In the rear it is connected with the new Law School on 
Ashburton Place ; and fronting, as it does, on the upper entrance of Pem- 
berton Square, the location is remarkably central and convenient of access. 

The Boston University School of Medicine is, like all other departments 
of the Boston University, open alike to both sexes. It was organized in 
1873; ^'"itl in the following year, l)y legislative act, the New-England Female 
Medical College, the first school to instruct women in medicine, was united 



A'/NG'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



147 




148 A'ING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

with it. For this purpose an optional year has been added, making the full 
course four years, with the privilege of gaining the baccalaureate degree at 
the end of the third year. The school is situated on East Concord Street, 
opposite the City Hospital, and close by the Massachusetts Homoeopathic 
Hospital. It has spacious grounds, with large and convenient buildings, 
a library of 2,000 volumes, museum, chemical and microscopical laborato- 
ries, and extensive apparatus for teaching and illustration. From its prox- 
imity to hospitals and dispensaries, it gives its students excellent facilities 
for practical observation and instruction. The faculty includes 28 profess- 
ors, lecturers, and instructors ; and although many of these are prominent 
homoeopathic physicians, yet every department of medicine, surgery, and 
the collateral sciences receives proper attention. The success of this school 
has been quite remarkable : upwards of 800 students have been in attend- 
ance ; and in the past ten years it has graduated 330 physicians, — one-third 
being women, — nearly all of whom are now engaged in successful practice. 
The dean of the school, and professor of surgery, is I. T. Talbot, M.D., 
66 Marlborough Street. 

Boston College was founded in 1863 by the Fathers of the Society of 
Jesus, and it is conducted by them. It is located on Harrison Avenue, next 
adjoining the Church of the Immaculate Conception ; and the value of its 
building and grounds is estimated at about $200,000. The course is long 
and thorough, and classical studies occupy a prominent place in it. It has 
a corps of 16 professors and other instructors. The number of students 
is 200, and increases from year to year. Rev. Edward V. Boursaud, S. J., 
is the president. 

Tufts College, on College Hill, Medford, is under control of the Univer- 
salist denomination. It is well endowed, enjoying the revenue of nearly 
$r,ooo,ooo, and has several scholarships. It has a classical course of four 
years, a four-years' course for the degree of bachelor of philosophy, a three- 
years' engineering course, and a divinity school. The collegiate department 
has 12 professors and instructors, and the divinity school 4 professors, i in- 
structor, and I lecturer. The president is Elmer H. Capen, D.D., who has 
held that office since 1S75. The college was chartered in 1852, and opened 
in 1854. It has several commodious buildings, and occupies one of the 
most sightly spots about Boston. There are nearly 100 students. 

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology was incorporated in 1861, 
for the purpose of instituting and maintaining a Society of Arts, a Museum 
of Arts, and a School of Industrial Science. The Society of Arts now 
numbers between 200 and 300 members, and meets at its rooms in the 
Institute building . fortnightly. The Museum has been well started, and 
includes models of machinery, casts, prints, drawings, architectural plans, 
etc. The building is of pressed ijrick, with freestone trimmings, and stands 





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KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



on a lot of land granted by the State, bounded by Boylston, Clarendon, New- 
bury, and Berkeley Streets. The Institute receives government aid under 
the Act of Congress designed to promote instruction in agriculture, the 
mechanic arts, and military science and tactics; is authorized to confer 
degrees, and is obliged to provide for military instruction. The school has 
more than 70 instructors, and over 700 students. There are ten courses, — 
those of civil and topographical engineering, mechanical engineering, geology 




The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boylston Street. 



and mininiT enofineering:, building; and architecture, chemistrv, metallurgy, 
natural history, electrical engineering, physics, and an elective, — each cover- 
ing four years. A School of Mechanic Arts, in which special prominence 
is given to manual instruction, has also been established. In the Rogers 
Building (named in memory of Professor W. B. Rogers, the founder of the 
Institute, who died in 1882), the oldest and tlie most attractive of the four 
l)uildings, there are over 50 rooms, most of them being laboratories or 
lecture-rooms. There is also a large and elegant audience-room called 
Huntington Hall. The president of the Institute is (^cn. Francis A. Walker. 
A school of industrial design is maintained, in connection with the Insti- 
tute of Technology, by the Lowell-Institute fund. In 1883, buildings were 
erected farther out on the Back-bav lands, one for a gymnasium and drill- 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



151 



hall, on Exeter Street and St. James Avenue ; the other for the workshops 
and schools of mechanic arts, Lowell School of Design, etc., on Garrison 
Street, near St. Botolph Street. A spacious four-story building was erected 
in 1883 near the Institute, for the departments of chemistry, physics, and 
architecture, the Industrial Museum, and other purposes. 

The Boston Public Schools, according to the recent report, comprise 
514 genera] and 21 special schools in the city; of the former, 453 are 
primary, 50 grammar, 8 high, 2 Latin, and i normal. Of the special schools, 
that for licensed minors is on Chardon Court ; and the Horace Mann School 
for the Deaf is on Warrenton Street. The others are evening-schools, some 
for teaching the elementary branches, and others for the classical branches 
and drawing; and their annual winter sessions are held in school-buildings 
in various parts of the city. By the semi-annual statistics prepared Jan. 31, 
1885, there were SS^77^ pupils, taught by 1,202 teachers. There were also 
a number of licensed minors and deaf-mutes under instruction ; and a large 
number in the evening-schools. Special teachers for these schools, and 
other temporary teachers and special assistants, increase the number of 
teachers on the pay-roll to 1,341. The salaries of the teachers and officers 
for the year amounted to $1,230,771.71. The system is under the control of 
the mayor, and board of school-committee, a body of 24 persons, 8 of whom 
are chosen annually for a term of three years. The authority of the board 
is almost absolute, even in making appropriations from the city treasury; but 
the real work of managing the schools is delegated to the superintendent, 
Edwin P. Seaver, and the supervisors, Samuel W. Mason, Ellis Peterson, 
Robert C. Metcalf, John Kneeland, Lyman R. Williston, and Lucretia 
Crocker, — a former member of the school-committee, to which women have 
been eligible since 1874. The cost of supervision is $26,880 annually. All 
the general schools are graded. The course of the primary school is three 
years; of the grammar school, six years; and of the high school, three 
years, with advanced instruction in the two central high schools. When 
preparing for college, boys and girls are admitted to their respective Latin 
schools, at an early age, after passing an examination equivalent to that 
required for admission to the third class in the grammar schools, where the 
course for the former is six years, and for the latter six years. The majority 
of the primary schools throughout the city, and nearly all suburban schools, 
are mixed. A new programme of studies has been introduced in the past 
few years, in which a great amount of oral teaching is prescribed, especially 
in the primary schools. Grammar is superseded by what are called language- 
lessons. The metric svstem is to be taught, and natiu'al philosophy and 
physiology are to be taken up in the higher grammar classes. Drawing 
and music have long been taught as regular studies in all the schools, and 
sewing is taught in the lower half of the girls' grammar schools. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON 



The Boston Latin-School is more interesting than any of the other 
schools, partly from its character as a preparatory school for college, and 
partly from its many traditions. It was founded in the year 1635, a long 
time before any other city school now existing, and ten years before any 
other school of its class in Massachusetts. Among its masters were Ezekiel 
Cheever, for 40 years ; John Lovell, for 40 years ; Benjamin Apthorp Gould ; 
Epes S. Dixwell ; and Francis Gardner, who for 44 years was usher, sub- 

_ _ master, m a s- 

ter, and head 
master. The 
present head 
master is 
Moses Merrill. 
The graduates 
have formed 
an association, 
and own a fine 
library of 3,- 
000 volumes, 
which are kept 
in the school- 
building. The 
school itself 
owns a very 
good collec- 
tion of objects 
illustrating the 

history and topography of Greece and Rome. In the school-building stands 
a marble monument to the memory of graduates who fell in the civil war. 
The design is by Richard Greenough, and represents the Alma Mater oi the 
school resting on a shield which bears the names of the dead heroes, and 
extending a laurel crown to those who returned from the war. On marble 
tablets on either side of the vestibule are engraved the names of all the 
scholars who served with the national forces without losing their lives. The 
first Latin-school stood on the site of the present City Hall, from which 
School Street derived its name. Afterwards it was removed to the site of 
the Parker House, thence to Bedford Street, and in 18S1 to the new building 
described below. 

The r^ew English-High and Latin School building, which the city of 
Boston has just erected on the lot fronting on Warren Avenue, Montgomery 
and Dartmouth Streets, is the largest structure in America devoted to edu- 
cational purposes, and the largest in the world used as a free public school. 




The OIJ Boston Latin-School, Bedford Street. 



154 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON 

The building was begun in 1877; and that portion to be used by the schools 
was completed in the year 1880, at a total cost of about $750,000. The 
Dartmouth-street front, which is to be occupied by the school-board and its 
officers, will be added hereafter. The structure is designed after the Ger- 
man plan, the principle of which is the hollow square with corridors follow- 
ing its outlines. 36 schoolrooms occupy the street-fronts; 12 receive their 
light from the courts. All the schoolrooms front on the open air ; and the 
width of the whole building is simply the width of a room and its corridor, 
thus insuring the best light and ventilation. There are 48 schoolrooms, each 
accommodating 35 pupils. The great court-yard is divided in the centre by 
corridors connecting with a '• theatre " building, that contains two lecture- 
halls, with a seating-capacity of 150 each; with cabinet-rooms, and tw^o 
library-rooms for both schools, — the Latin-school, with its front on Warren 
Avenue, and the English high-school, on Montgomery Street. The two 
schools are connected in the rear by a drill-hall and gymnasium, for the use 
of both schools in common, occupying the east side of the quadrangle. 
The chemical laboratory and a lecture-room are in a detached building. The 
entire building will be, when completed, 423 feet long, and 220 feet wide. 
At present, without the administration-building (as the part reserved for 
the school-board will be called), it is 339 feet long. It has three stories 
and a basement, the latter being a clere-story facing the courts. The style 
is a modern Renaissance; having all the lines of strength treated architec- 
turally in stone, the frieze-courses inlaid with terra-cotta, while the back- 
ground is of Philadelphia brick. Practically the building is fireproof 
throughout. Each of the schoolrooms is surrounded by brick walls, form- 
ing fireproof sections. The staircases are of iron, and the four that are in 
each building are in width proportioned to the number to be accommodated. 
Great care has been given to the sanitary regulations. The interior finish 
is of Michigan oak. The exhibition-halls are arranged in amphitheatre 
form, 62 by 82 feet, and 25 feet high. The drill-hall is a grand feature. It 
is on the street-level, 130 feet long by 62 feet wide, and 30 feet high, with 
entrances from Warren Avenue, Montgomery and Clarendon Streets, and 
the court-yard. The floor is of thick plank, calked like a ship's deck, and 
is laid upon solid concrete. The hall can accommodate the whole school- 
battalion, and can also be used for mounted drill. The drill-hall, with its 
galleries, could seat 3,000 persons. It, and also the gymnasium above, of 
the same size, are both finished in^natural materials, and treated so as to 
get a constructional effect of open timber-work, the wood being of hard 
pine, shellacked and varnished ; the walls of Philadelphia brick, laid in 
bright red mortar, and trimmed with sandstone. The basement-story and 
the court-yards are to be specially fitted up for play-room. The entire 
building, which makes an excellent model of good workmanship, and is a 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON 



155 



credit to the city, and to the artisans engaged in its construction, was de- 
signed by the city architect, George A. Cloiigh. During the winter season 
the free evening high-school is held here. 

The Boston Normal School is in the third story of the Rice-school 
building, on Dartmouth Street ; and the Rice school (including the Rice 
primary-school, Appleton Street) is now the Rice Training-school; which 
gives an opportunity to the Normal-school pupils to obtain some practical 
knowledge of the methods of teaching. The school was established in 1854, 
and is expressly for gi'rls. 




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The Girls' High-School, West Newton Street. 



Larkin Dunton, LL. D., 
has been head master 
since its separation from 
the Girls' High-School, in 
1872. 

The Girls' High- 
School, on Newton Street, 
completed in 1870, was 
then the largest and cost- 
liest school-edifice in the 
United States. The large 
upper hall contains casts 
from antique sculpture. 
The course of study cov- 
ers four years, and in- 
cludes Latin, French, 
German, and the higher 
English branches. It is the chief source of supply of teachers for the Bos- 
ton schools, and the largest high school in New England, having nearly 
800 young women 14 to 22 years old. Homer B. Sprague is head-master. 

The Public Latin-School for Girls was established in 1878. The course 
of study here is the same as that of the Public Latin-school for boys. It 
embraces also oral instruction in physiology and zoology, and a more de- 
tailed study of botany. Two hours a week are devoted to physical and vocal 
training. The pupils have three prepared lessons each day, and one unpre- 
pared. At the unprepared lesson, among other exercises, are translation at 
sight, oral reading, and study of passages in literature not previously exam- 
ined, working of problems, and the examination of various natural objects in 
zoology, physiology, and botany. So judiciously is this school conducted, 
that the course of study is, for girls of fair ability who begin in good health, 
even though they may be delicately constituted, not a severe or unsafe task, 
affecting injuriously their physical condition. Pupils who pass successfully 
through the fourth class of the grammar schools are considered to be amply 



156 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON 

qualified for the lowest class of this school. The school is succeeding satis 
factorily in every respect, and is regarded as past the experimental stage. 
Girls pass from it to the colleges for women and those admitting both sexes. 
The movement for the establishment of this school was begun by the so- 
ciety for the encouragement of the University Education of Women, and 
petition was first made for the admission of girls into the Boston Latin School. 
This failing, the establishment of the separate Latin School for girls was 
next successfully urged. The school is situated on West-Newton Street, 
in the same building with the Girls' High School. John Tetlow is the 
master. The entrance examinations occur on the third Saturday in June 
and the first Monday in September. The pupils increase in numbers yearly. 
Of the many schools having interesting features we may mention the 
English high-school in the new Latin-school building, differing from the sub- 
urban high-schools only in being exclusively for boys, and in having male 
teachers, and a greater variety of educational apparatus. Among the gram- 
mar-schools at which one finds the best class of scholars are the Dwight, 
the Everett, and the Exeter-street : the last-named has the finest school-build- 
ing in the city. This building is notable as the first example in New England 
of the plan so universally adopted in Germany and Austria ; the essential 
difference being in the grouping of the rooms, and so arranging them that 
no part of the building shall exceed the width of a room and corridor, or 
confining the rooms mainly on one side of the corridor, instead of grouping 
them around a common hall in the centre, which has been the general prac- 
tice in this country. The advantage gained in the foreign plan is securing 
a freer and more certain circulation of air, and avoiding a reservoir, such 
as a central hall is likely to be, for foul air, communicating with the other 
rooms; it also secures better light, and a more direct connection between 
staircases, corridors, and entrances. The Exeter-street school is known 
as the Prince school, named for ex-Mayor Prince. In the Eliot, at the 
North End, one may find whole classes in which every member partly 
maintains himself, and in which every one is very poor. Only good dis- 
ciplinarians can govern these children, and the traditions of the school are 
exceedingly amusing. A thorough system of gymnastics in use here was 
invented by Mr. Mason, one of the present supervisors, while he was master 
of this school. The Emerson school, in East Boston, is among those famous 
for the penmanship of its scholars. The Rice primary-school occupies a 
position similar to that held by the Dwight and Everett among grammar- 
schools; and the Genesee-street primary is noted for the good discipline 
of its scholars. It is worth visiting, because the results of the primary- 
school system are more plainly evident than in schools attended by a better 
class of children. The difference between the untamed little creatures who 
Jiave been in the school a few weeks, and the neat, alert boys and girls of 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



^57 



the upper classes, justify the Bostonian in assuming an air of pride as he 
asks, " What do you think of our public schools ? " 

The Private Schools of the city number about loo ; and about 5,000 
pupils find instruction in free denominational schools, so called, which are 
chiefly Catholic institutions. 

Chauncy-Hall School, 259 Boylston Street, opposite the Art Museum, 
is a private school that was established in 1828 by the late Gideon F. Thayer, 
who was succeeded by Thomas Gushing. Its principals now are William 
H. Ladd, who has been connected with the school nearly thirty years, and M. 
Grant Daniell, 
late of the Rox- 
b u r \- Latin- 
school. Miss 
Mary H. Ladd 
and Oliver F. 
Bryant are asso- 
ciate principals. 
There are thirty 
teachers. Mrs. 
Abby F. Harris 
is head of the 
literary depart- 
ment. Rest F. 
Curtis of the 
math ematical, 
Henry Baily of 
the classical, and 
Miss Mary E. 
Peirce of the 
upper depart- 
ment for girls. 
The school- 
house was origi- 
nally in Chauncy 
Place, and subse- 

quendy in Essex Street, until the burning of the building in 1873. The 
present schoolhouse is the property of a corporation composed chiefly of 
former pupils. It is excellently adapted to its purposes ; and unusual care 
has been devoted to proper ventilation, heating, light, and furniture. The 
school is designed to furnish a complete course of school education, begin- 
ning with the kindergarten and primary school, and continuing through the 
upper departments in preparation for the university, the Institute of Tech- 




beh ol Boylbton Street 



158 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

nology, or for business. Military drill is practised, and the school has the 
use of the gymnasium belonging to the Institute of Technology. There is 
a laboratory in the school building. Special students are received into any 
classes for which they are qualified, and study such branches as they or 
their parents may select. Girls were admitted in 1861, and are now found in 
all the departments. 

The Massachusetts Normal Art-School was established by the State in 
1873, as a training-school, for the purpose of qualifying teachers and masters 
of industrial drawing. Its chief aim at present is to prepare teachers for 
the industrial drawing-schools of the State, who can also direct and superin- 
tend the instruction in this branch in the public schools. The demand for 
these teachers is the result of an act passed by the legislature in 1870, 
making instruction in this branch obligatory in the public day-schools, and 
requiring cities and towns containing more than 10,000 inhabitants to pro- 
vide free instruction in industrial drawing to persons over fifteen years of 
age. This school occupies the building formerly known as the " Deacon 
House," at the South End, on Washington Street. All students are charged 
as follows : residents of the State, no tuition, but ^20 a year for expenses; 
non-residents, a tuition of ^100 a year. There are 170 students, 100 of 
whom are from Boston. 

The New-England Conservatory of Music at Boston, under the direc- 
tion of Dr. Eben Tourjee, is the largest and best-appointed musical institute 
in the w^orld. Of this worthy institution and its already celebrated founder, 
" Harper's New Monthly Magazine" said : — 

" Twenty-five years ago there was nothing in this country deserving the 
name, if it aped the title, of a music-school. Eben Tourje'e, then scarcely 
more than a lad, seeking vainly for instruction and advantages that to-day 
are within reach of the humblest, resolved, with that one idea, persistency, 
which from time immemorial characterizes great reformers, that one day 
there should exist in this land a school of music, where art should be placed 
on the same footing as other studies in our higher institutions of learning; 
where it should not be viewed merely as an accomplishment, but rather as 
an integral part of a well-rounded, complete education, to be pursued, not 
spasmodically, but with systematic thoroughness. In 1851 young Tourjee 
unfolded his plans for a music-school to one whose specialty lay in the 
direction of commercial training. This gentleman proposed a joint com- 
mercial and musical college, — a union which strikes one like the propo- 
sition of a would-be Yankee Meyerbeer to set the Constitution to a sym- 
phony. Fortunately for the true progress of music, this idea was [never 
entertained by Tourjee, and] never- developed. But in 1853 we find Mr. 
Tourjde endeavoring to interest prominent musical and educational profess- 
ors in Boston in his project for a musical conservator}-, to embrace the best 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



159 



elements of the foreign schools. All professed interest, but condemned the 
scheme as visionary. The capital could never be raised ; there would not 
be pupils enough to form classes, or warrant the employment of suitable 
teachers ; in short, if it ever was to be done, Mr. Tourjee must do it himself, 
raise a fund, start a college, and get himself elected president, — a mocking 
prophecy, which ere long brought its own fulfilment. Nothing daunted, 
through 1853-54 Mr. Tourjee continued his classes in piano, organ, voice; 
and, never losing sight of his central thought, he found time to issue and 
conduct an able little paper, called 'The Key-Note,' in which he endeavored 
to encourage the study of music on a higher basis than that usually pursued, 
indicating with prophetic utterance the future of music in this country." 











''■imr^-^'^ 




The New-England Conservatory ot Music, Franklin Square. 



The grand result of his labors and successes is shown in the New-England 
Conservatory, which he established in 1867. In it he has been favored with 
the patronage of more than 33,000 persons, and through it he gives instruc- 
tion to nearly 3,000 persons annually. To him are the people all over the 
country indebted for the conservatories patterned after this institution. In 
1880 the institution was incorporated; and to-day has on its board of trus- 
tees many of Boston's most prominent citizens. In 1882 Mr. Tourje'e 
bought the immense St. James Hotel, fronting on Franklin Square; and 
here he has established a magnificent college of music, with nearly 100 
teachers, such as Zerrahn, Whitney, Maas, Willard, Parker, Daniell Elson, 
Apthorp, Ratoh, Adamowski, Rolfe, Whiting, Dunham, Wheeler, Orth, Ue 
Seve, Bendix, and others, and courses of study in all departments of music, 



i6o KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

art, and the languages. There are rooms for more than 500 women students 
in the building, where persons from other cities can live comfortably, under 
the best religious influences, and in the harmonious development of their 
best faculties. This grand establishment is the musical Harvard of America. 

The Lowell Institute, one of the most unique of the educational institu- 
tions of Boston, was established in 1839, ^7 t^"*^ munificence of John Lowell, 
" to provide for regular courses of free public lectures upon the most impor- 
tant branches of natural and moral science, to be annually delivered in the 
city of Boston." Besides the School of Industrial Design connected with 
the Institute of Technology, two drawing-schools were until 1878 maintained 
by this fund. The Lowell-Institute lectures are now given in the hall of 
the Institute of Technology. 

The Simmons Female College, for the purpose of teaching " medicine, 
music, drawing, designing, telegraphy, and other branches of art, science, 
and industry best calculated to enable the scholars to acquire an independent 
livelihood," was provided for by the will of John Simmons in 1870. He left 
store and dwelling property m the city, valued at the time at about $1,400,000, 
the income from which, under certain conditions and after certain payments, 
was to be applied to the establishment of the college. But a portion of the 
property having been destroyed in the Great Fire, and the income being 
impaired, nothing has been done by the trustees to carry out the project. 

The American College and Education Society, with its office at No. 10 
Congregational House, has for its objects the promotion of Protestant theo- 
logical education ; and with this purpose it aids Western colleges, and many 
young men, candidates for the ministry. Charles Benedict of Waterbury, 
Conn., is president; and Rev. John A. Hamilton, secretary. It is unsec- 
tarian, though its funds and students are drawn chiefly from Congregational 
sources. 

The American Metric Bureau occupies a part of the second story of 32 
Hawley Street, in the " book-district" of Boston. It is an important educa- 
tional society, and is composed of professors in colleges, teachers in high 
schools, superintendents of education, and many persons from all profes- 
sions, and from every line of business. It is introducing the International 
Decimal System of Weights and Measures. It has the largest collection 
extant of charts, books, apparatus, weights, and measures, illustrating the 
metric system, and forming a Metric Museum of more than 1,000 different 
articles, that are freely exhibited and explained to all interested. The secre- 
tary and three assistants have charge of the office, and give copies of explan- 
atory pamphlets to all applicants, or mail them without charge. The Bureau 
is incorporated, the same as the Bible Society, as a missionary society for 
educational purposes. It sent out the first year over a half-million pages, 
illustrating the system, and explaining its advantages. Visitors to Boston 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. i6i 

are often taken to the Bureau as one of the curiosities of the " City of 
Notions," as nothing of the kind can be seen elsewhere. 

The American Library Association is in the same office with the Ameri- 
can Metric Bureau, and is composed of the leading librarians of the country, 
and aims to increase the number of readers, improve their methods, raise 
the standard of reading, and reduce its cost. The work is done through 
the free public libraries. The visitor's interest in the office lies in the Bibli- 
othecal Museum, comprising a collection of catalogues, reports, and other 
library publications, and thousands of blanks, devices, and appliances of 
every sort, used in libraries at home or abroad. These are arranged both 
by Hbraries and by subjects. Of still greater interest to public or private 
librarians are the v^orking models recommended by the Association. These 
include nearly every thing tangible that pertains to the successful manage- 
ment of a library. The whole collection is fully and freely explained to 
visitors. The manager of the Library Association is H. E. Davidson ; and 
the editor of " The Library Journal," the official publication of the libraries 
both of this country and of Great Britain, is Charles A. Cutter. 

The Spelling Reform Association ig the thurd so^jeti having hedkwer- 
tera hfer. This ia veri lik tliE Metric Biiro in its membership and methods. 
Its ebject and meto ia ' TliE Simplificsjun ev Iijglish ©rtliegrafi.' It cezez 
matur tu bfe printed and rltn in tlife nii speling, distribiits pamflets, explana 
tliE nii method, and the vital impertans ev tiiis referm tu eni pregres in pepii- 
lar ediicajun. Its efigera incliid at er ten ev thfe most eminent filelocjists, six 
ev tiiem bfeing ex-preaidents ev thfe Filolecjical Asojiejuna ev America and Iijg- 
land. This general efi(; ev this najunal er internajunal asojiajun ia ev interest 
in bfeing flife hedkwertera fer speling referm publicajuna, tipa, stajuneri, and 
infermajun. Aa this and thfe Metric SoQJeti am tu remuv tlife gratest ebstacla 
tu thfe spred ev pepiilar ediicajun, and thfe Librari Asojiajun tu cari ferward 
that ediicajun hi furnijing dife best rfeding frfeli tu thoa hum tlife skula hav tet tu 
rfed, flife cembjnd ofi(;es ev thfe thrfe so^ietia ar much viaited hi thea interested 
in ediicajunal matura. fha ar tugethur becez so closli alid in ther ebjects; 
becez, whil liaving no conecjun whetever, so meni membera ev wun ar mem- 
bera ev thfe uthera; and bfecez thfe editer ev tlife Librari Jurnal, Melvil Diii, ia 
at thfe sam tim secretari ev fecli ev thfe Asojiajuna. Thfe efi(;e8 ar open frem 
8. A. M. tu 6 P. M., exept Sundaa and Ifegal helidaa, thrueut tlife yfer. 

The Society to Encourage Studies at Home, organized in 1873. ^^^^'^ nict 
with remarkable success, which it seems to fully merit. Its purpose is to 
induce young ladies to devote some part of every day to thorough and sys- 
tematic study. To carry out this purpose, courses of reading and plans of 
work are arranged, and thorough directions and advice are given ; and finally 
an annual meeting is held, where the students can meet the instructors. 
The instruction is given by about 180 correspondents. During the past 
year there were 988 students, of whom 381 selected history; 367 English 



1 62 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

literature; 114 science; 107 art; 35 German; and 34 French. The society 
also owns a library, from which books are sent everywhere to its members. 
The cost of membership is $2.00 a year, merely to cover the incidental 
expenses. The secretary is Miss Anna E. Ticknor, daughter of the late 
George Ticknor ; and communications are to be sent to her by mail, ad- 
dressed to Boston. 

The Roxbury Latin School is the popular name of " The Grammar School 
in the easterly part of the Town of Roxbury." It was founded in 1645, and 
among its founders were the Apostle John Eliot, Gov. Thomas Dudley, and 
many others whose names are well known to the. people of New England. 
Although the school is free to residents of Boston, it is controlled by a 
board of trustees, and is not a part of the public-school system. Its sup- 
port is chiefly from the income of a tax voluntarily imposed upon certain 
citizens of Roxbury. It has also received several bequests from individuals, 
and some aid from the city of Roxbury. It was incorporated in 1789; and 
since then it has bcf-^n a close corporation, in which the trustees fill any 
vacancies that occur in their board. Among the teachers at this school 
before the Revolution, were Judge William Gushing, Gen. Joseph Warren, 
the Rev. Bishop Samuel Paiker, and Gov. Increase Sumner; and since 
then the lists of both teachers and pupils have had the names of scores of 
men whom the whole country has honored. The school has now two six- 
years' courses; one of which is an English course, and the other a course 
preparatory for college, and especially for Harvard, where the examinations 
are the most comprehensive of any American college. The Roxbury Latin 
School stands equal in rank, and second in age, to any school of its class 
in this country. Its building is a large, plain wooden structure on Kear- 
sarge Avenue, and comfortably accommodates its present number of pupils, 
about 130. The head master, William C. Collar, is highly esteemed as one 
of the ablest teachers the school has ever had. 

The Perkins Institution and Massachusetts School for the Blind is situ- 
ated on Broadway, Mount Washington, South Boston, in a large building 
formerly a hotel, which, as the ground is quite high, is a prominent object 
from the harbor and from the country for miles around. The institution 
was founded in 1829, and was organized in 1832 by Dr. Samuel G. Howe, 
beginning with six blind children in his father's house. It is named in honor" 
of Col. Thomas H. Perkins, one of its most generous friends, who gave his 
mansion-house on Pearl Street for its use. It is notable as being the first 
institution in the world where a systematic education of the blind was at- 
tempted ; and its success was so great that it has been a model for other in- 
stitutions of the kind, both in America and Europe. The family system is 
followed; and the women and girls occupy dwelling-houses by themselves, 
the sexes being separated. The average number of inmates is about 160. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



163 



Music has been taught here with such success that the tuning, and keeping 
in repair, of all the pianos in the public schools of Boston arc now intrusted 
to the pupils of the Institution, to the satisfaction of the school-committee, 
the music-teachers, and the public. The first books for the blind produced 
in this country were printed at the Perkins Institution, and during the past 
few years several standard works have been electrotyped. This department 
is carried on with much vigor. The institution is partly self-supporting from 
the income of invested funds. It receives compensation from several States 
for the education and- training of beneficiaries, and from jNIassachusetts a 




The Perkins Institution and Massachusetts School for the Blind, Broadway, South Boston. 

grant of $30,000 annually. Dr. Howe continued in charge until his death 
in 1876. Samuel Eliot is president, and J\T. Anagnos secretary and director. 
Visitors are admitted on Thursdays at 11 a.m. 

The Episcopal Theological School, on Brattle Street, Cambridge, was 
incorporated in 1867, for the preparation of young men for the ministry. 
Its founder, Benjamin T. Reed of Boston, desired that the advantages of 
Cambridge be available for those seeking that sacred calling in the Episco- 
pal Church ; and it has been the aim of the authorities of this seminary to 
maintain the standard of scholarship at the highest point. For admission, 
it is required that the applicant be a Bachelor of Arts, or submit to an ex- 
amination implying equal proficiency. Its group of buildings is of singu- 
lar beauty and uniformity, and is most pleasingly situated. It comprises St. 
John's Memorial Chapel, erected by the late R. M. Mason ; Lawrence Hall, 
the dormitory, erected by Amos A. Lawrence ; Reed Hall, the librarv, erected 
by the founder; Burnham Hall, the refectory, erected by John A. Burnham; 



1 64 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON 

and the Deanery. The clean of the institution is the Rev. George Zabriskie 
Gray, D.D. 

Private Classical Schools for preparing boys for colleges, especially for 
Harvard College, include the schools of George W. C. Noble, 174 Tremont 
Street; John P. Hopkinson, 20 Boylston Place; E. R. Humphreys, 129 
West Chester Park ; Charles W. Stone, 6S Chestnut Street ; and Herbert 
B. Gushing, 170 Newbury Street. 

Commercial Colleges for fitting young men and women for business-life 
include Bryant & Stratton's, 608 Washington Street; Burdett's, 167 Tremont 
Street; Comer's, 666 Washington Street; French's, corner of Boylston and 
Berkeley Streets; Reckers & Bradford's, 18 Boylston Street; George A. 
Sawyer's, 161 Tremont Street; and the Boston Commercial College of Wil- 
liam H. Moriarty, 639 Washington Street. 

The Sisters of Notre Dame have a prosperous boarding and day school 
on Washington Street, Boston Highlands. The school was established in 
1854, under the auspices of the Right Rev. Bishop Fitzpatrick. The grounds 
include six acres, and afford delightful facilities for healthful exercise. The 
building is a large four-story structure, of brick with granite trimmings. 
The school is self-supporting; the tuition, including board, is $200 a year. 

Other Catholic Schools and Convents include the Notre Dame Academy 
and Convent, Berkeley Street, near Boylston Street ; St. Joseph's Convent, 
Broadway, between Dorchester and A Streets, South Boston ; St. Aloysius 
Convent at East Boston ; St. Joseph's Convent at Jamaica Plain ; Academy 
conducted by Ladies of the Sacred Heart, 5 Chester Square ; and nine paro- 
chial and free schools scattered throughout the districts of Boston. Some 
of these schools are very large, such as St. Mary's on Cooper Street, at 
which there are 700 boys; St. Mary's on Lancaster Street, 625 girls; SS. 
Peter and Paul, on Broadway, between Dorchester and A Streets, South 
Boston, 900 girls; and the Most Holy Re.deemer, East Boston, 1,165 girls. 

The Roman- Catholic Church has built a very large and handsome 
building in the Brighton district, for the education of candidates for the 
priesthood. This seminary is for tlie supply of clergy for the province, and 
is conducted by Sulpicians. 

The Evening High School, on Montgomery Street, is a comparatively 
recent foundation, and affords instruction to many persons whose duties 
prevent their studying in the daytime. It has courses in all the English 
branches, and also in French and German ; and its achievements are limited 
only by the capacity of its quarters. 

The Massachusetts College of Pharmacy, instituted in 1823. and incor- 
porated in 1852, began its classes in 1867, and since 1877 has occupied the 
old Franklin-school bujlding on Washington Street, near Dover Street. 

The Horace Mann School for the Deaf, on Warrenton Street, was 



1 66 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON 

founded in 1869, by the Boston School Committee and the State Board of 
Education, as a public day-school for deaf children, to give an elementary 
English education. Deaf-mutes are taught the meaning and use of ordinary 
language. The school aims to teach all its pupils to speak, and to read the 
speech of others from their lips. There are about 80 pupils. The plan of 
separating the pupils who were born deaf, and those made deaf by disease, 
is carried out as far as practicable. Professor A. Melville Bell's system of 
visible speech is employed as an aid in teaching articulation. The school is 
free for both sexes residents of the State, and a moderate fee for others. 

The Boston Asylum and Farm-School for Indigent Boys was formed 
by the union of the Boston Asylum for Indigent Boys, which originated in 
1 81 3, and the Proprietors of the Boston Farm-School, established in 1832. 
It was incorporated in 1835. Its object is to provide a home and training 
for homeless boys, and those who have lost one or both parents. Boys 
received into the institution as bo'arders can be taken away at any time, but 
others are held until the directors apprentice them. The average number 
in the school is 100. It is pleasantly situated on Thompson's Island. 

The Massachusetts School for Idiotic and Feeble-minded Youth, the 
oldest establishment of its kind in America, was opened in 1848 with three 
private pupils and ten State charges; and it now cares for about 128 a year, 
75 of whom are beneficiaries of the State. The average number of inmates 
is about 120. The late Dr. Samuel G. Howe was its founder and organizer, 
and remained at its head as superintendent until his death in January, 1876. 
The pupils are instructed by teachers possessing special qualifications ; and 
a workshop is provided, in which those who can learn are taught trades. 
The schoolhouse is in South Boston. 

The Boston City Hospital Training-School for Nurses was established 
in 1878 to give a two-years' course of training to women desirous of becom- 
ing professional nurses. The superintendent of nurses at the City Hospital, 
Miss Almira C. Davis, has charge of the Training-School, under authority 
of the superintendent of the hospital. Dr. George H. M. Rowe. 

The Educational Periodicals of Boston are " Education," a bi-monthly 
magazine, 112 pp.; -'The Journal of Education," New England and Na- 
tional, weekly ; and " The American Teacher," monthly. These periodicals 
were established in January, 1875, by Thomas W. Bicknell, LL.D., formerly 
commissioner of public schools in Rhode Island. Mr. Bicknell is editor-in- 
chief of all these publications, and is ably assisted by W. A. Mowry, W. E. 
Sheldon, A. D. Mayo, and W. N. Hailmann. These publications received 
the first premiums in Paris as the leading educational journals of the world, 
and have a very powerful influence in the cause of good schools and Avise . 
teachintj. 



KING'S HA2VDBOOK OF BOSTON, 



16'] 



Cije Soul of tl}e Citg. 



THE RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS, — THEIR PLACES OF WORSHIP, 
AND THEIR PASTORS. 



T 



HE first meeting-house in Boston was a small 
mud walls and thatched roof. 



homely building, 




First Meet ng house 



Bostoi 



rebuilt in 1713, and in 1808 torn 
down. 

The " First Church in Bos- 
ton" (Congregational Unitarian), 
of which Rufus Ellis, D.D., is 
pastor, built another meeting- 
house in Chauncy Place in 1808, 
which in 1868 gave place to the 
present fine church building at 
the corner of Berkeley and Marl- 
borough Streets. This church 
cost about $325,000, and is a 
beautiful structure. It accom- 
modates about 1,000 persons, 
has a very fine organ, windows 
of stained glass, an exterior 
carriage-porch of unique design, 
and is elegantly finished. The 
music is equal to that of any 
other church in Boston 



with 
The accompanying illustration from 
" Harper's Weekly " is said to give a 
fair idea of its outward appearance. 
It stood near the head of State Street. 
It was erected in 1632: John Wilson 
and John Cotton were its pastors. In 
1640 this house of worship was sue- 
by a more preten- 
structure on Wash- 
Stieet, where Rogers 
ing noA\ stands. This 
was buined in 171 1, 




The " First Church in Boston," Berkeley Street. 

The architects were Ware & Van Brunt of Boston. 



i68 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



The second church in the city was built in 1649, in North Square. The 
first Roman Cathohc in 1789; the first Methodist (church on Hanover Ave- 
nue) in 1796; the first UniversaHst (church corner of Hanover and Bennett 
Streets) in 1785. 

The early church history of Boston is full of interest, but the details 
are too voluminous to be given here. 

The Old South, corner of Washington and Milk Streets, is the most 
famous meeting-hoiise in Boston, by reason of its historical associations. 
The Old South Society was organized in 1669; and the meeting-house was 
built soon afterwards on a piece of land given by Mrs. Norton, widow of the 
Rev. John Norton. In 1729 the original meeting-house, which was of wood, 
was taken down, and the present brick structure was built on the same spot. 

It is one of the most famous 
" landmarks " of old Boston, and 
one of the few historic buildings 
that have been allowed to remain 
standing in this iconoclastic age 
and country. The associations 
that cluster around the Old 
South are certainly of a nature 
that should make the building 
precious in the eyes of patriotic 
citizens. Benjamin Franklin was 
baptized and attended worship 
here ; Whitefield preached here ; 
the revolutionary agitators made 
use of the edifice to stir up the 
citizens against the tyranny of 
their king; Warren here delivered 
his famous speech on the anni- 
versary of the Boston Massacre ; 
the "tea-party" organized within 
these walls ; and here the annual 
election sermons were for many 
years delivered. In 1775 the 
church was used as a riding- 
school by the British troops. 
The great fire of 1872 stopped just before reaching the Old South, burning 
all around it on two sides. The society abandoned this place of worship 
(which was used as the post-oflice for a while after the fire), and erected a 
new building on the Back Bay. Since tlien its preservation has been 
vigorously striven for. and it will doul)tless l)e saved as an historical monu- 




Fhe Old South, Washington Street. 



ICING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



169 




rHE OLD SOUTH CHURCH, BOYLSTON STREET. 



170 A'ING'S HANDBOOK' OF BOSTON. 

ment. The land on wlilcli the church stands is valuable for business 
purposes, owing to its central location. The Old South Preservation Com- 
mittee has done its best towards saving the building, and various enter- 
tainments, fairs, lectures, and grand balls have been given to this end ; but 
the sum ($400,000) required to purchase the church has not at this writing 
been raised. The ministers of this society from its formation are : Thomas 
Thatcher, Samuel Willard, Ebenezer Pemberton, Joseph Sewall, D.D., 
Thomas Prince, Alexander Gumming, Samuel Blair, John Bacon, John 
Hunt, Joseph Eckley, Joshua Huntington, Benjamin B. Wisner, D.D., 
Samuel H. Stearns, G. W. Blagden, D.D., J. M. Manning, D.D., and 
George A. Gordon. The Old South is a plain brick building, painted light, 
with a tall spire. The belfry is surrounded by an exterior gallery. The 
house is 88 by 61 feet in dimensions, and has a sounding-board and two tiers 
of galleries. A tablet above the Washington-street entrance gives the dates 
of the formation of the society and the building of the two church edi- 
fices. The building is now an historical museum, made interesting to the 
masses of the people by the exhibition of new inventions and rare old 
colonial antiquities. The entrance-fees go towards raising the preservation 
fund. 

The Old South Church, successor to the historic "Old South " (on the 
corner of Washington and Milk Streets), is at the corner of Dartmouth and 
Boylston Streets. It is a large and costly structure, including, besides the 
church, a chapel and parsonage. The seating capacity is between 800 and 
900, and the building covers an area of 200 by 90 feet. It is of Roxbury 
stone, with freestone trimmings ; and the interior finish is of cherry. The 
massive tower, which forms the most noticeable feature of the structure, is 
235 feet high. Over the centre of the main church edifice rises a large 
lantern of copper, with 12 windows. An arched screen of Caen stone, with 
shafts of Lisbon marble, separates the church from the main vestibule. A 
carved screen of wood encloses the pulj^it, and three panels of Venetian 
mosaic fill the heads of the arches leading from the doorways. The 
stained-glass windows were brought from England, and are decorated with 
biblical scenes. This edifice, erected at a cost of about 1:500,000, is gener- 
ally considered one of the finest specimens of church architecture on the 
continent. The interior decorations are elaborate; the pronounced tints of 
the walls, the large chandeliers, and the rich carvings producing a striking 
and beautiful effect. 

King's Chapel, corner of Tremont and School Streets, was the first 
Episcopal church in New England, and is now a Unitarian chinch. The 
society was organized in 1686, and a little wooden church was erected in 
1689. Robert Ratcliffe was the first rector. The church was enlarged in 
1710; but in 1754 it was taken down, and replaced by the present substan- 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



lyi 



tial stone building. The liturgy was altered in 1785, and has been used as 
amended ever since. In 1787 James Freeman became the pastor; and the 
connection of the society with the Episcopal church ceasing, it became a 
Unitarian church. The present pastor is Henry W. Foote. King's Chapel 
is a very quaint 

and interesting _^ - _* _ _- ~ ^ 

place. The in- ^ ^ — ^~ .=^?^;-- — =-^^ — 

terior, with its ^^ 

high, old-fash- 
ioned pews, its 
tall pulpit and 
sounding-board, 
its massive pil- 
lars, and stained- 
glass window, 
is remarkably 
attractive. In 
1878 the city 
discussed the 
plan of remov- 
i n g King's 
Chapel with its 
adjoining buri- 
al ground, and 
erecting a court- 
house in their 
place. 

Christ Church, Salem Street, which was built by the Episcopalians 'v\ 
1723, is the oldest church edifice now standing in Boston. The buildirg, 
which is of brick, is 70 by 50 feet in dimensions, and the steeple is 175 
feet high. It is the most prominent landmark of the North End, and was 
formerly known as the " North Church." The steeple accurately repre- 
sents one that was blown down in 1804. The tower contains a fine chime 
of eight bells, which bear the following inscriptions : — 

First bell : "This peal of 8 Bells is the gift of a number of generous 
persons to Christ Church, in Boston, N.E., anno 1744, A.R." Second: 
"This church was founded in the year 1723; Timothy Cutler, D.D., the 
first rector, A.R., 1744." Third: "We are the first ring of Bells cast for 
the British Empire in North America, A.R., 1744." Fourth: "God pre- 
serve the Church of England, 1744." Fifth: "William Shirley, Esq., Gov- 
ernor of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, anno 1744." Sixth: 
'•'- The subscription for these Bells was begun by John Hammock and 




King's Chapel, Tremont Street. 



T72 



A'/NG'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



Robert Temple, church wardens, anno 1743; completed by Robert Jen 
kins and John Gould, church wardens, anno 1744." Seventh : "Since Gen- 
erosity has opened our mouths, our tongues shall ring aloud its praise. 

1744." Eighth: "Abel 
Rudhall, of Gloucester, 
cast us all, anno 1744." 
This chime, brought from 
England, is the oldest 
in America. The Bible, 
prayer-books, and silver 
now in use, were given, in 
1733, by King George 11. 
The figures of cherubim 
in front of the organ, 
and the chandeliers, were 
taken from a French 
vessel by the privateer 
" Queen of Hungary," and 
presented to this church 
in 1746. The Sunday 
school was established in 
1815, when no other was 
known to exist in Ameri 
ca, Christ Church has 
at the present time about 
175 communicants. 

Christ Church, Salem Street. 't-i • ^ • c .^ 

The interior of the 
church still retains an antique appearance. The present rector is William 
H. Munroe. 

A tablet was placed on the front of Christ Church in 1878, bearing the 
following inscription : — 




THE SIGNAL LANTERNS OF 

PAUL REVERE 

DISPLAYED IN THE STEEPLE OF THIS CHURCH 

APRIL 18 1775 

WARNED THE COUNTRY OF THE MARCH 

OF THE BRITISH TROOPS TO 

LEXINGTON AND CONCORD. 



Trinity Church, at the intersection of Huntington Avenue, Boylston and 
Clarendon Streets, is the finest church edifice in New EnHand, if'not in the 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



173 



111 I''-' 

il 






mm 




MiiMia 



T74 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

United States. The history of Trinity parish dates as far back as 1728 
Its first church, built in 1735, was a plain wooden building with gambrel 
roof, at the corner of Summer and Hawley Streets ; and its first rector was 
Addington Davenport. In this wooden building the parish worshipped 
until 1828, when the corner-stone of a new house was laid in the same loca- 
tion ; and the solid Gothic structure then erected was used by the parish till 
it was burned in the great fire of 1872. In the winter before this disaster, 
the subject of a new church edifice had been left to the direction of a build- 
ing committee ; and eventually the designs of Gambrill and Richardson, 
architects, of New York, were accepted. The new church was completed 
early in 1877. In sinking the foundations an immense amount of labor was 
performed ; and, on account of the nature of the Back-bay land, it was found 
necessary to somewhat modify the orig;inal design. The church was conse- 
crated on Feb. 9, 1877; the bishop of the diocese conducting the services. 
Four prelates of the church, many clergymen, the governor, the mayor, and 
a large number of notables, were present. Trinity Church is in the pure 
French Romanesque style, in the shape of a Latin cross, with a semi-circu- 
lar apse added to the eastern arm. The clerestory is carried by an arcade 
of two arches only. Above the aisles a gallery is carried across the arches, 
which is called the "triforium" gallery, and serves to connect the three 
main galleries, one across either transept and one across the west end of 
the nave. The whole interior of the church and chapel is finished in black 
walnut, and the vestibules in ash and oak. A great central tower, 211 feet 
high, surmounts the building, rising from four piers at the crossing of the 
nave and transept. The tower is very conspicuous, owing to its massive 
form, and is the main feature of the edifice ; the nave, transepts, and apse 
being subordinate to it. A handsome and unique chapel is connected with 
the main structure by an open cloister, the effect of which is exceedingly 
pleasing. The extreme width of the church across the transepts is 121 feet, 
and the extreme length is 160 feet. The chancel is ^j feet deep by 52 feet 
wide. The tower is 46 feet square inside. The material employed in the 
body of the church is Dedham granite, ornamented with brown freestone 
trimmings. The exterior of the apse is decorated with mosaic work of pol- 
ished granite. In the interior work special attention has been paid to the 
decorations, which form an enduring monument to the artistic taste of John 
La Farge of New York. No such decorations can be found in any other 
church in this country. The stained-glass memorial windows were made in 
Europe. The church resembles many of those cathedrals in the south of 
France, which all the world has recognized as models in a noble school of 
ecclesiastical art. The cost of the building was $750,000. The parish has 
no debt, and is exceedingly wealth}-. Some of the greatest preachers in the 
Episcopal denomination have graced the pulpits of the old Trinity churches. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



T75 



Among these have been George Washington Doane, afterwards bishop of 
New Jersey; John Henry Hopkins, once bishop of Vermont; Thomas 
March Clark, afterwards bishop of Rhode Island; Manton Eastburn, the 
last bishop of this diocese ; and Jonathan M. Wainwright, once bishop of 
New York. The rector of the present church is the most famous preacher 
in the denomination, Phillips Brooks, D.D., a graduate of Harvard Col- 
lege. He is much beloved by his pc-rishioners, and esteemed and admired 
by every one for his elo- 
quence and earnestness. 
Fred. Baylies Allen is as- 
sistant rector. 

The Arlington-street 
Church (Unitarian), corner 
of Arlington and Boylston 
Streets, has an eventful 
history. The society was 
formed in 1727 as a Pres- 
byterian church. A barn 
on Long Lane (now Federal 
Street) was the first place 
of worship. In 1744 a 
church building replaced 
the barn on the same spot. 
In this building the United 
States Constitution was 
adopted in 1788 by the 
State convention : hence 
the name of Federal Street. 
A new brick church was 
built in 1809, on the same 
site; but in 1859 this was 
taken dow n, and the present 
handsome building on Ar- 
lington Street was subse- 
quently erected. In 1786 

ItlfanS't'^e'' con'::. ^^^- & <' ^>i W^O A 

gational form of govern- 
ment. W. E. Channing, 
D.D., was pastor of this 

church from 1803 till 1842, and here made his reputation as an accomplished 
scholar, writer, and preacher, during this period. His successor was Ezra 




The Arlington-street Church, corner of Boylston Street 



176 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



S. Gannett, D.D., who was killed in the terrible railroad accident at Revere 
in 1 87 1. Dr. Gannett was succeeded by the late J. F. W. Ware. The church 
is of freestone, and is very handsome, with a shapely spire and a chime of 
bells. On the Boylston-street side, the building is almost entirely covered 
with vines. Brooke Herford of Chicago was elected pastor in 1882. 

St. Paul's Church was built in 1820, and consecrated by the Episcopal 

bishops of Massa- 
chusetts and Con- 
necticut. It stands 
on Tremont Street, 
between Winter 
Street and Temple 
Place, facing the 
Common, It is in 
the Grecian style of 
architecture, of the 
Ionic order. The 
walls are of gray 
granite, and the 
portico and col- 
umns are of Poto- 
mac sandstone. 
The interior is 
handsome. The 
ceiling is a cylin- 
drical vault, with 
panels which span 
the whole width of 

the church. Its rectors have been Samuel F. Jarvis, D.D., Alonzo Potter, 
LL.D., afterwards bishop of Pennsylvania, John S. Stone, D.D., Alexander 
H. Vinton, D.D., William R. Nicholson, D.D., Treadwcll Walden, and 
W. W. Newton. Frederick Courtney, D.D., is the present rector. 

The HoUis-Street Church is at the corner of Exeter and Newbury 
Streets, on the Back Bay. It is of dark, hard and rough bricks, laid in 
colored mortar, with trimmings of Longmeadow sandstone and terra-cotta, 
a handsome round tower occupying the corner. The lower floor contains 
Sunday-school room, parlors, refreshment-room, kitchen, etc. The main 
audience-hall is distinguished by its warm coloring and its graceful arched 
ceiling, and has large and rcmarkaljly fine stained windows, one of them- 
representing Christ and the Woman of Samaria (a memorial of the Rev. 
John Pierpont). Another stained window, now in preparation, is a copy of 
Raphael's cartoon of Paul preaching at Athens (a memorial of the Rev. 




St. Paul's Church, Tremont Street. 



KING 'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON 



177 




1^8 K/XG'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

Thomas Starr King). The pastor of the HoUis-street Church is Henry 
Bernard Carpenter. 

The old HolHs-street Church was originally built in 1732. It was a little 
wooden building ; and the first minister was Mather Byles, a Tory, a wit, 
and a scholar. The church and the street were named after Thomas HoUis 
of London, one of the greatest benefactors of Harvard University. The 
meeting-house was burned in 1787, and another built. In 1810 the latter 
was removed, to give place to a new structure. Ebenezer Wight, Dr. Samuel 
West, Horace Holley, John Pierpont, Thomas Starr King, and George L. 
Chaney were pastors of this church. The tablets in the old church, bearing 
the Ten Commandments, were the gift of Benjamin Bussey, one of Harvard's 
p-reatest benefactors. The old church was used as a barrack by the British 
soldiers during the siege of Boston. In 1885 the then-existing church- 
building was reconstructed and replaced by a theatre. This society was 
formed in 1730; his Excellency Jonathan Belcher, Governor-in-chief in and 
over his Majesty's Province of the Massachusetts Bay, having presented 
the land, on Hollis Street, on which stood its house of worship for a hundred 
and fifty years. In 1882 the society voted to sell their church, and build a 
new one on the Back Bay, nearer the homes of their people ; and, this having 
been done, the venerable parish received new life and vigor. 

The First Spiritual Temple, on the corner of Exeter and Newbury 
Streets, amid the patrician splendors of the Back Bay, and opposite the new 
Holhs-street Church, was built in 1 884-1 885, by Marcellus J. Ayer, a wealthy 
Boston merchant, at a cost of nearly $250,000, as a headquarters and 
meeting-house for the Working Union of Progressive Spiritualists. It is a 
lofty, spacious, and picturesque Romanesque building, of granite of various 
colors, abounding in rich and delicate carvings. It contains a brilliant and 
cheerful audience-room, with 1,500 sittings, smaller halls, library and reading- 
room, parlors, and other offices. The Sunday services are at morning and 
evening, with a Sunday school in the afternoon. It is expected that this im- 
posing structure will become the central administrative point of the new ideas 
in psychical research and development. The chief strength of American 
Spiritualism is in and around Boston and Lynn, and the construction of this 
Temple will doubtless have a great effect in strengthening the hitherto 
somewhat incoherent bonds of their societies. 

The Temple Adath Israel, at the corner of Columbus Avenue and 
Northampton Street, was dedicated in 1885, the services being conducted 
by the chief Hebrew rabbis and Unitarian clergymen of the city. It is 
a handsome Romanesque building, of l)rick, brownslone, and tcrra-cotta; 
and contains 600 sittings. Among its membership are included many of 
the foremost of the Jewish citizens of Boston. Solomon Schindler is the 
rabbi. There are several other well-attended synagogues in Boston, whose 



laNG'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



179 



Hebrew population is large and of much importance in the mercantile 
world. 

The Central Church (Congregational Trinitarian), corner of Berkeley 
and Newbury Streets, is a handsome building of Roxbury stone with sand- 
stone trimmings. It cost over $325,000, and was dedicated in 1867. It is 
free of debt. The spire, 236 feet high, is the tallest in the city ; and the 
interior of the church is exceedingly handsome. The society first wor- 
shipped in the old Federal-street Theatre, and later in a plain church-building 
on Winter Street. W. M. Rogers was the first pastor. The present pastor 
is Joseph T. Duryea, D.D., a leading clergyman of the denomination. 

The Park-street Church, corner of Park and Tremont Streets, was 
erected in 1810, and cost about $50,000, It is of brick, with a fine spire; 
and the interior 
is commodious 
though plain. The 
society was organ- 
ized in 1809. Nine 
of the members of 
the Old South, 
which was then the 
only evangelical 
Congregational 
church in Boston, 
came out from the 
parent church un- 
der the promptings 
of a revival move- 
ment. Park-street 
Church was begot- 
ten in a revival, 
and has enjoyed 
many in her his- 
tory. E.D. Griffin, 
S. E. D wight, Ed- 
ward Beecher, J. H. Linsley, Silas Aiken, A. L. Stone, and W, H. H. 
Murray were pastors of this church. The present pastor is J. L. Withrow, 
D.D. Several churches have grown out of the Park-street Church. Many 
of the missionary societies of the Orthodox denomination have been started 
within its walls. The church has always been deeply enlisted in the work 
of foreign missions, giving $4,000 and upwards each year to that cause. 
Until July, 1878, the church had always been in debt; but all incumbrances 
were then removed, and the church repaired and painted. 




Park-street Church, Tremont Street. 



i8o KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

The First Parish Church (Unitarian), Meeting-House Hill, Dorchester 
district, is the oldest religious society in Boston. It was organized in 
Plymouth, England, March 20, 1630, the eve before the embarkation of the 
first settlers of Dorchester in the " Mary and John." John Maverick and 
John Warham were the first ministers. The first religious service held was 
in the open air in Dorchester, the Sunday after their settlement, in June, 
1630. The first meeting-house was built in 1631, at the corner of Pleas- 
ant and Cottage Streets. It was a log house, protected with palisades 
against the Indians. In 1645 ^ more expensive structure was erected on 
the same spot. In 1670 it was moved to Meeting-House Hill, which derived 
its name from the church which for over 200 years has remained on this 
site. In 1677 it was succeeded by another which cost ^200. In 1743 ^ 
new house was built, which stood until the erection, in 181 6, of the present 
structure. This church has had, including Maverick and Warham, who 
were associated together, and excluding two coadjutors who for a short 
time assisted Richard Mather, only eight successive ministers in a period 
of nearly 250 years. The list is as follows : Richard Mather, 33 years, with 
Jonathan Burr and John Wilson, jun., associates, both of whom he survived 
as pastor ; Josiah Flint, 9 years ; John Danforth, 48 years ; Jonathan Bow- 
man, 44 years; Moses Everett, 19 years; Thaddeus Mason Harris, 43 
years; and Nathaniel Hall, 40 years. Samuel J. Barrows was ordained in 
1876, and in 1880 retired to become editor of "The Christian Register," the 
organ of the Unitarian denomination. C. R. Eliot is the present pastor. 

The Union Temple Churchy worshipping in Tremont Temple, is one 
of the largest Baptist societies in America. This society was organized in 
1863 by the consolidation of the Tremont-street Church with the Union 
Church, to carry forward the work begun in 1839, to establish a free church 
in Boston, where all persons, " whether rich or poor, without distinction of 
color or condition, might worship." The movement was successful from 
the beginning. The first pastor of the consolidated church was Justin D. 
Fulton, D.D. George C. Lorimer, D.D., now of Chicago, succeeded Dr. 
Fulton. The present pastor is Y. M. Ellis, D.D. The Union Temple 
Church is a free church, and discards the pew system, depending largely for 
its pecuniary resources on the voluntary subscriptions and contributions 
of the congregation. There is a large Sunday school connected with the 
church, and also a young men's organization called the Temple Union. 
The congregations at the Temple are very large. The church is also called 
the " Stranger's Sabbath Home." 

The Central Congregational Church of Jamaica Plain (West-Roxbury 
district, Boston) was organized in 1S53 under tlie name of the Mather 
Church. Services were held in the Village Hall until 1856, when a newly- 
built church edifice on Centre Street was dedicated. In 1866 the name of 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



81 



the society was changed from the Mather Church to the Central Congrega- 
tional Church. In 1871 the society sold its house of worship on Centre 
Street, purchased a lot of land on the corner of Elm Street and Seav- 
erns Avenue, and began 
the erection of a new house, 
which was completed and 
dedicated in 1872. George 
M. Boynton is the pastor. 

St. John's Church, Tre- 
mont Street, between Ver- 
non and Clay Streets, Bos- 
ton Highlands, was built 
as a chapel of St. James 
Church, and was opened in 
1867. In 1871 it became 
an independent parish, and 
the following year the build- 
ing was enlarged. George 
S. Converse, formerly rector 
of St. James Church, is the 
rector. The church is free, 
and will seat about 500. The 
society is Episcopalian. 

The German Lutheran 
Trinity Church, of the un- 
altered Augsburg Confes- 
sion, is an unpretending little building on Parker Street, Boston Highlands, 

which has been occupied by the 

German Evangelical Lutheran Trini- 
ty Society since 1871. The building 
was formerly known as Day's Chapel. 
Adolf Biewend is the pastor. A pa- 
rochial school is conducted in the 
basement. The services are in the 
German language. 

The Cathedral of the Holy Cross 
on Washington Street, at the corner 
of Maiden Street, is the largest and 
finest Catholic church in the city. It 
wa? dedicated in 1875. '^ li^ building measures over 46,000 square feet, and 
covers more than an acre of ground. In this respect it takes precedence of 
the Cathedrals of Strasbourg, Pisa, Vienna, Venice, Salisbury, and Dublin. 




Central Congregational Church, Jannaica Plain. 




Gernnan Lutheran Trinity Church, Parker Street. 



1 82 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

The style is the early EngHsh Gothic, cruciform, with nave, transept, aisle, 
and clerestory, the latter being supported by two rows of clustered metal 
pillars. The total length of the building is 364 feet ; width at the transept, 
170 feet; width of nave and aisles, 90 feet; height to the ridge-pole, 120 
feet. There are two main towers in front and a turret, all of unequal 
height, and all eventually to be surmounted by spires. The great tower on 
the south-west corner with its spire will be 300 feet high, and the small 
tower on the north-west corner will be 200 feet high. The gallery contains 
a Hook & Hastings organ of unsurpassed purity of tone and remarkable 
power. It has more than 5,000 pipes. It has 78 stops, besides 5 pneumatic 
knobs and 12 combination pedals. The entire interior of the cathedral is 
clear space, broken only by two rows of columns extending along the nave 
and supporting the central roof. The pews accommodate nearly 3,500 per- 
sons. The arch which separates the spacious front vestibule from the 
church is of bricks taken from the ruins of the Ursuline convent of Mount 
Benedict. The ceiling abounds in carved wood and tracery. The panels 
and spandrils show three shades of oak, with an outer line of African 
wood. Every alternate panel is ornamented with emblematic devices. The 
roof in the transept displays an immense cross of inlaid wood. On the 
ceiling of the chancel are painted angels representing Faith, Hope, Charity, 
and other virtues, on a background of gold. The frescoing on the walls is 
very handsome. The rose window over the principal entrance is in design 
a fine specimen of art. The stained transept windows, each 40 by 20 feet 
in size, have designs representing the exaltation of the cross by the Em- 
peror Heraclius, and the miracle by whicli the true cross was verified. 
The stained windows in the chancel represent the Crucifixion, the Ascen- 
sion, and the Nativity. These are memorial windows, and were gifts to the 
church. There are 24 smaller windows of stained glass, representing 
biblical subjects, in the clerestory of the transept and of the chancel. The 
sanctuary terminates in an octagonal apse. The high altar is formed of 
rich variegated marbles, and is to be surmounted by a fine canopy. On the 
Gospel side stands the Episcopal throne, the cathedra of the Bishop. On 
the right of the sanctuary is the chapel of the Blessed Virgin, containing a 
marble statue of the Virgin. There are three other chapels, — the chapel 
of St. Joseph, the chapel of St. Patrick, and the chapel of the Blessed 
Sacrament. The large vestry is between the chapel of the Blessed Sacra- 
ment and the sanctuary. The chantry, with a small organ, is over the vestry. 
The Rev. Lawrence J. O'Toole is rector of the parish. The archbishop is 
the Most Rev. J. J. Williams. 

The mansion of the archbishop, in the rear of the cathedral, is quite 
stately and very convenient, and contains some of the chief offices of the 
archdiocese of Boston. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



183 




THE CATHEDRAL OF THE HOLY CROSS, WASHINGTON STREET. 



1 84 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON 

The Church of the Immaculate Conception, corner of Harrison Avenue 
and Concord Street, is a handsome granite edifice, 208 feet long by 88 feet 
wide, built in 1861 under the auspices of the Jesuit Fathers, at a cost of 
over H 1 00,000. The lot of about 90,000 feet of land on which it stands was 
bought for $45,000. From the floor to the ceiling, the height is 70 feet. 
The main divisions of the interior are effected by two rows of Ionic 
columns, with richly ornamented capitals, which mark the line of the side 
aisles wnth graceful and light shades. On the keystone of the chancel 
arch, there is a bust of Christ ; and on the opposite arch, over the choir 
gallery, a bust of the Virgin. On the other circles there are busts of the 
saints of the Society of Jesus. Over each column there is an angel sup- 
porting the entablature. The altar is a fine piece of workmanship in mar- 
ble. On the panels is sculptured an abridgment of the life of the Virgin, 
— the Annunciation, the visitation to St. Elisabeth, the Nativity, the Adora- 
tion of the Magi, the Mater Dolorosa, and the Assumption. On either side 
of the altar are three Corinthian columns, with appropriate entablatures and 
broken arches, surmounted by statues of the Immaculate Conception of the 
Virgin, the whole terminated by a silver cross, with an adoring angel on 
each side. On the right side of the broken arch is a figure of St. Ignatius, 
with chasuble, stole, etc., and on the opposite side is that of St. Francis 
Xavier. Over the chancel is an elliptic dome, lighted by colored glass, with 
a dove in the centre with spread wangs. Within the chancel rails are two 
side chapels, the one on the Gospel side dedicated to St. Joseph ; that on 
the Epistle, to St. Aloysius. The ceiling over the chancel is elliptic, and 
laid off in bands ornamented with mouldings. The painting behind the 
high altar is the Crucifixion, by Garialdi of Rome. The organ is one of 
the best in America, and was built by Hook & Hastings in 1863. Adjoin- 
ing the church grounds is the Boston College, a Catholic institution, of 
which the Rev. Edward V. Boursaud, S. J., is president. 

The Mission Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Tremont Street, 
Boston Highlands, which was completed and dedicated in 187S, is one of the 
largest churches in Boston. It is under the charge of the Redemptorist 
Fathers; Rev. Joseph Henning being the rector. The church is a basilica, 
with transepts in the Romanesque style. The church has seats for 2,000 
people, and affords standing-room for an equal number. It cost over 
$200,000. The building is of Roxbury stone. Its length is 215 feet; 
width across the transepts 115 feet; width of nave and aisles 78 feet. 
The nave is 70 feet high in the clear, and the aisles are 34 feet high- 
Over the intersection of the nave and transepts rises an octagonal dome 
of 40 feet inner diameter, to a height of no feet. This dome is supported 
by four clusters of four columns each, all of polished granite, with finely- 
carved capitals. The sanctuary, which is very large, closes with a semi- 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



185 



circular apse, in which is the high altar. Six side altars find room in the 
chapels at the ends of the aisles and transepts. The chapel of Our Lady 
is built out from the west transept. Over the vestibule is the organ gallery, 
which, like the triforium galleries, is not open to the public. The basement 
accommodates about 1,600 people. The sacristy is in a special building 
west of the sanctuary. 

The Dudley-street Baptist Church, Boston Highlands, between Warren 
and Washington Streets, is 
a brick building in the 
Gothic style, covered by 
mastic. The church is 117 
by 75 feet in dimensions, 
with a tower and steeple 
200 feet high. The interi- 
or is divided into nave and 
side aisles by clustered col- 
umns, the auditorium and 
galleries containing about 
200 pews, which seat 1,100 
people. Albert K. Potter, 
D.D., is the pastor. There 
are over 600 members, and 
the society carries on many 
active charities. The first 
house of worship was of 
wood, and was dedicated in 
1820. The present edifice 
was opened in 1853. Joseph 
Elliot was the first pastor. 
His successors in the pasto- 
ral office were William Lev- 
erett, Thomas F. Caldicott, 
D.D., Thomas D. Anderson, 
D.D., and H.M. King, D.D. 

The Catholic Apostolic Church is a small congregation worshipping 
in a hall at No. 227 Tremont Street. It represents a movement of which 
the distinctive feature is " the preparation of the church as a body for the 
coming and kingdom of the Lord." Its worship is celebrated Monday, 
Wednesday, and Saturday, at 6 a.m., Tuesday and Thursday at 5 p.m., and 
Friday at 10 a.m. On Sunday the celebration of the Holy Eucharist takes 
place at 10 a.m., and vespers at 5 p.m. The minister in charge is Benjamin 
F. Treadwell. 




Dudley-street Baptist Church, Highlands. 



1 86 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



The West Church, Congregational, on Cambridge, corner of Lvnde 
Street, is one of the old churches. It was built in 1806, taking the place 
of a wooden meeting-house built in 1736-37. This first building had a 
handsome steeple ; and it was situated advantageously to give signals during 
the early days of the revolutionary struggle to the Continental troops at 
Cambridge, on the opposite shore. The British officers, suspecting it had 
been used for this purpose, ordered the steeple taken down in 1775. The 
first pastor was William Hooper, from Scotland, wliose pastorate lasted ten 
years. The other pastors were Jonathan Mayhew, D.D., Simeon Howard, 
D.D., and Charles Lowell. C. A. Bartol, D.D., the present pastor, was 
ordained in 1837, and has occupied the pulpit ever since. 

The Tremont-street Methodist-Episcopal Church, Tremont and Con- 
cord Streets, is a 
large, Gothic, nat- 
ural-quarry stone 
building, with two 
spires, respectively 
150 feet and 100 
feet high. It is the 
finest Methodist 
church in the city. 
Hammatt Billings 
was the architect. 
The societ}' was or- 
ganized in 1848, un- 
der the name of the 
Hedding Church, 

&r| if|'^'HHHr~ 11 "^^S^^^^^fll^"^ riTlt '^I'ld formerly occu- 
fl m 1III-- RlRRH Lll ^-^ JH^^^trilii llll pied a brick'edihce 

on South Williams 
(n o w P e 1 h a m) 
Street. The pres- 
ent building, com- 
pleted in 1862, has 
a seating capacity 
of 800; and the 

pastor is S. F. Jones. The illustration of the church is from '' Harper's 
Weekly." 

The Boston Evangelical Advent Church liolds services in its spacious 
new building on Shawmut Avenue, near Williams Street. The Adventists 
watch for Christ's return to the world, which they believe is near at hand, 
and will be the beginning of the millennium. .Martin Stut/.man is the 
pastor. 




Trsmont-street Metnodist-Episcopal Church, corner of Concord Str 



A'/NG'S HANDBOOK' OF BOS TO AT. 187 

The People's Church, on the corner of Columbus Avenue and Berkeley 
Street, lately hnished, is largely the conception of the Rev. J. W. Hamilton, 
a Methodist clergyman, and was the outgrowth of a society founded in the 
old Church-street Church. It is a free church, and the aim of its founders is 
to make it an attractive place to the people. It has been slowly built; as it 
was determined at the start to work only as fast as the funds would allow, 
that the society should not suffer under a burden of debt. Sufficient funds 
having been raised through subscription and otherwise to complete the struc- 
ture, it was dedicated with impressive and prolonged services, conducted by 
the chief ministers of several denominations. The interior contains sittings 
for from 3,000 to 4,000 people. The building was begun m 1879; and ser- 
vices have been held regularly in the chapel, which was first built, since the 
close of that year- 

The Church of the Advent (Episcopal) was founded in 1844. Services 
were held first in a room at 13 Merrimac Street ; later in a hall at the corner 
of Lowell and Causeway Streets ; and afterwards in a building bought by the 
parish on Green Street, near Bowdoin Square. Next, the Bowdoin-street 
Congregational Church, popularly known as Lyman Beecher's, was pur- 
chased and long occupied. The rectors, in chronological order, have been : 
William Croswell, D.D., who died m church while concluding the services; 
the Right Rev. Horatio Southgate, D.D.; and James A. BoUes, D.D. The 
present rector, Charles C. Grafton, was appointed in 1872. In some of its 
features the parish is peculiar in its organization and administration. The 
corporation consists of the rector and some twenty laymen, who fill their 
own vacancies. No sale or rental of pews is allowed, all sittings being free. 
The expenses are defrayed by the Sunday offertory. The priests are a 
body of men consecrated to a life-service, who live in community. There 
are daily services in the church as follows : Holy communion every morning 
at 7 o'clock, and on Thursdays also at 9.30 ; morning prayers said at 9, and 
even-song sung at 5. The Sunday services comprise : Holy communion at 
7.30 and 11.45 A.M.; matins, 10.30; children's choral service, 3.30 p.m. ; and 
even-song, 7.30 p.m. The services at 10.30, 1145, and 7.30, on Sunday are 
fully choral. The choir consists of thirty men and boys (S. B. Whitney, 
choirmaster and organist). The Advent is widely famous for its imposing 
ritual, and high Anglo-Catholic observances, large surpliced choirs and pro- 
cessionals, richly adorned and lighted altar, vestments of the clergy, etc., 
and also for its very close and intimate union with the worthy poor, and its 
varied practical charities. There are numerous special services in Lent. 
Connected with the church are several parochial and charitable Avorks, 
including the Sisterhood of the Holy Nativity (16 Brimmer Street), which 
is a sisterhood doing parochial mission-work, and has branches in Provi- 
dence, New York, and elsewhere. 



1 88 A'/NG'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

The New Church of the Advent building is at the corner of Mount- 
Vernon and Brimmer Streets. It is constructed of brick and stone, with an 
interior finish entirely of brick and freestone. The main body, 72 by 73 
feet, consists of nave, 76 feet high, two aisles and transepts. The chancel, 
with polygonal end, is 30 by 48 feet. There is a chapel on the south side 




The New Church of the Advent, Mount Vernon and Brimnner Streets. 

of the chancel, 18 by 33 feet; a crypt with groined ceiling, beneath the 
chancel, 24 by 30 feet; schoolrooms, hexagonal in shape, 43 feet in diam- 
eter; and various other rooms. The tower will be 22 feet square, and 190 
feet high. The baptistery will be in the church, under the tower. Attached 
to the church on the north side will be the clergy-house, four stories high, 
containing vestry, clergy and choir rooms, refectory, and dormitories. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 




FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, COMMONWEALTH AVENUE. 



190 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

When completed, the exterior will present a picturesque appearance. The 
architects are John H. Sturgis and Charles Brigham. The church is now 
occupied by the society. 

The Mission Church of St. John Evangelist, on Bowdoin Street, is a 
free church, the services in which are conducted by the mission priests of the 
Society of St. John the Evangelist Arthur C. A. Hall is the superior of 
the mission, having with him as assistants Father Osborne and Father 
Torbert. The teaching in this church is of the advanced high-church school 
in the Episcopal Church, great stress being laid upon the sacramental life 
of the Church. The holy eucharist is celebrated every day, and there are 
frequent services both on Sundays and week-days, with special addresses, 
retreats, etc., at special seasons. The Sunday school is large and well 
worked. There is also a growing Sunday school in connection with it, for 
the colored population of the West End. The charitable work is efficiently 
done in co-operation with the Associated Charities of Boston. The fathers 
live in community, in their mission-house at 44 Temple Street. 

The First Baptist Church, on the corner of Commonwealth Avenue and 
Clarendon Street, is a massive edifice of Roxbury stone, in the form of a 
Greek cross. Its tower, 176 feet high, is a singularly beautiful structure, 
probably the finest church-tower in America; and is surrounded, near its 
top, by a frieze of colossal sculptures in bas-relief, representing the sacra- 
ments of baptism, communion, marriage, and death, with the angels of the 
judgment at the angles, blowing golden trumpets. The church was dedi- 
cated in 1873, by a Unitarian society, of which S. K. Lothrop, D.D., was 
pastor. The acoustic properties proved to be bad ; and, shortly after the 
opening, services were suspended. Later, the society w^as dissolved. It 
dated back to 1699, when the first house was built, in Brattle Square, to be 
replaced in 1773 by a larger edifice on the same ground. It was long known 
as the Manifesto Church, the original members having issued a document 
declaring their aims. The British soldiers used the church as a barrack 
during the war. A cannon-ball from a battery in Cambridge, which struck 
the building, was subsequently built into the wall. Edward Everett was one 
of the pastors of this church. In 1881 the church-edifice was sold by auction, 
J. Montgomery Sears being the purchaser. The propert}- \\as in the market 
for some time, and was finally bought by the First Bai)tist Church. The 
new owners took possession of the property in the spring of 1882, and the 
first services were held in May. The First Baptist Church was formed in 
Charlestown in 1665; and after much persecution it built a meeting-house 
in the city proper, in Salem Street. This was in 1678. In 1771 a new 
church was erected on the same spot; and in 1828 a brick house of worship 
costing $44,000 was built on the corner of Hanover and Union Streets. In 
1858 a fourth church-building was erected, this time on Somerset Street, on a 



AVNG'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON, 1 91 

conspicuous site. The church here was long known as the Somerset-street 
Church. It was built of brick, with a stucco front. The spire was 200 feet 
high, and was the most prominent of the church-spires of the city, on account 
of the elevated position of the building. During the spring of 1882, the 
Somerset-street Church was purchased by the Boston University ; and Jacob 
Sleeper Hall has been reared on its site. Cephas B. Crane, D.D., resigned 
the pastorate of the First Baptist Church in 1885, on account of ill health. 
A handsome and convenient chapel has been built adjacent to the church. 

The Church of the Disciples was organized Feb. 28, 1841, to "embody 
the three principles ; of a free church, a social church, and a church in 
which the members, as well as the pastor, should take part." It was called 
"The Church of the Disciples," because its members came together "as 
learners in the school of Jesus Christ, with Christ for their teacher." Its 
creed has been "faith in Jesus, as the Christ, the Son of God, and the pur- 
pose of co-operating together as his disciples in the study and practice of 
Christianity." The society was organized by 43 men and women ; and it 
was determined at the outset that the seats in the place of worship should 
always be free, — none sold or rented, — and that the entire expenses should 
be met by voluntary subscriptions. Among the first names signed on the 
church-books were those of Nathaniel Peabody and his three daughters, — 
one of whom afterwards became Mrs. Horace Mann ; another, Mrs. Nathaniel 
Hawthorne ; and the third, Miss Elizabeth Peabody, is well known in Boston 
as foremost in good works and also in many educational movements. Gov. 
Andrew was also a member of the society. The number of names now 
on the church-book is about 726. The present house of worship is on War- 
ren Avenue, an unpretentious, roomy edifice, erected in 1869 by voluntary 
subscriptions. It was free from debt when finished. The whole cost was 
less than the original estimate. The pastor is James Freeman Clarke, who 
has been pastor from the beginning. It is classed as Unitarian. 

The Second Church, Boylston Street, near Dartmouth, was the second 
church established in Boston, Its first meeting-house was built in 1649 ^^^ 
North Square, and its first minister was John Mayo. In 1676 this first 
house was burned down, but the next year it was rebuilt on a larger scale. 
This stood until the early days of the Revolution, and was known as the 
Old North Church. In 1775 it was destroyed for fuel by the British troops. 
From that year until 1879 tfie society was without a meeting-house ; but its 
members clung together, and at length came into possession of the " New 
Brick Church " in Hanover Street, which had been erected by seceders 
from the "New North." The Second Church occupied this meeting-house 
until 1844. A new church on the same spot was then built, and dedicated 
the following year; but in 1849 this was sold, and a year after the society 
purchased the Freeman-place Chapel. Four years after, a meeting-house 



192 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



on Bedford Street was purchased by the society, which thereupon sold 
the Freeman-place Chapel, and moved farther south. Business in time 
encroaching upon this situation, another change was necessitated ; and in 
1872 the Bedford-street Church was taken down, and the present building 
in the Back-bay district was erected. This was dedicated in 1874. It 
is a freestone structure, with a very attractive interior. A commodious 
chapel adjoins it. Among the pastors of this church have been Increase, 
Cotton, and Samuel Mather, John Lathrop, Henry Ware, jun., Ralph Waldo 
Emerson, Chandler Robbins, and Robert Laird Collier. The present pastor 
is Edward A. Horton. The faith of the church is Congregational Unitarian. 

It is at present a large and 
growing parish. Among its 
regular attendants are ex- 
Gov. Talbot, ex-Gov. Long, 
and ex-Mayor Lincoln. 

The Bowdoin - square 
Baptist Church was built 
in 1840, and is a solid- 
looking building with a 
front of unhammered gran- 
ite. The tower is 28 feet 
square and no feet high, 
with four battlements. The 
structure, which cost $70,- 
000, measures 98 by 73^ 
feet. The church had at 
the outset 137 members, 
and the first pastor was R. 
W. Cushman, D.D. The 
sittings in this house are 
free, and the expenses are 
met by voluntary weekly 
otTerings. The present pas- 
tor is W. W. Downs. 

The Berkeley - street 
Church is at the junction 
of Warren Avenue with 
T r e m o n t. Dove r, a n d 
Berkeley Streets. It was organized September, 1827, and was originally 
located at the corner of Washington and Pine Streets, taking the name of 
the Pine-street Church. It belongs to the Trinitarian Congregational de- 
nomination. In April, 1862, it removed to the present site, and assumed 




Bowdoin-square Baptist Church, Bowdoin Square. 



A^/NG'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



193 



the present name. In the list of its pastors are some of the most illustrious 
names in the Boston ministry ; among them Thomas Skinner, D.D., Austin 
Phelps, D.D., and H. M. Dexter, D.D., editor of "The Congregationalist." 
On Sept. 30, 1877, the semi-centennial anniversary of the church was cele- 
brated. In the summer of 1878 a debt which had oppressed the church 
from its origin was cancelled. The building is believed to be the largest 
Protestant house of worship in New England. William Burnet Wright has 
been the pastor for sixteen years. 

The Second Church, Dorchester district, was organized Jan. i, 1808, by 
64 members who had been connected with the First Church in the same 
place, and was formed sole- 
ly in consequence of an in- 
creasing population, its mem- 
bers separating from the old 
church with earnest mutual 
expressions of good-will. It 
has had but three pastors, — 
John Codman, D.D., James 
H. Means, D.D., and E. N. 
Packard. Dr. Codman was 
a native of Boston, and a 
graduate of Harvard. He 
remained the pastor of the 
church until his death, Dec. 
23, 1847, at the age of 66, in 
the fortieth year of his pas- 
torate. He was devoted to 
his work, and, possessed of 
wealth, was widely known for 
his benevolence. In the early 
part of his ministry there 
were serious difficulties, owing to a difference of doctrinal belief between 
him and some of his people ; but, after these were adjusted, there followed 
many years of a peaceful and prospered service. Dr. Means was ordained 
July 13, 1848. During the 30 years of his ministry, the church was united, 
and grew in size and in activity: as the population is filling in around it, it 
has the prospect of a more enlarged field of usefulness. Dr. Means re- 
signed in October, 1878, on account of impaired health. Mr. Packard was 
installed in April, 1879. The church still occupies the edifice first built, — 
a plain but spacious and tasteful building of wood, which was dedicated 
Oct. 30, 1806. It has never been burdened by a mortgage, and there is no 
wish to exchanire it for a costlier structure. The whole number of members 




Second Church, Washington Street, corner Centre. 



94 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 




Church of the Unity, West Newton Street. 



from the beginning has been more than 1,200, nearly 800 of whom were re- 
ceived upon profession of faith. 

The Church of the Unity grew out of the increasing needs of the people 
of the South End in the rapid growth of that part of the city. It was or- 
ganized June 27, 1857, by an association of men well known, with a broad 

basis of religious doctrine, and 
'^ a declared purpose of "promot- 

ting good morals, and the cause 
of Liberal Christianity." Its first 
pastor was George H. Hepworth, 
now of New York, who remained 
about 1 1 years. He was suc- 
ceeded by M. K. Schermerhorn, 
who resigned after about 3 years' 
service. He, in turn, was suc- 
ceeded by M. J. Savage, the pres- 
ent pastor, who was installed 
Septembei:, 1874. The society 
first worshipped in a hall on the 
corner of Shawmut Avenue and 
Canton Street, but soon built the present church edifice, simple and tasteful 
in its architecture, well located on West Newton Street, and paid for. It 
has a seating capacity of over 1,000. The society has always been pros- 
perous, independent, and progressive in its spirit ; and it reports itself now 
as in a state of prosperity, financially and religiously, never before surpassed. 
Mr. Savage, the present pasfor, is a man of large culture and liberality, in- 
dependent and outspoken in his views, of wide influence and popularity as a 
preacher. He has also become widely known as the author of several excel- 
lent books entided "Christianity the Science of Manhood," " Light on the 
Cloud," "The Religion of Evolution," and " Bluffton," a novel of the re- 
ligious type. The church is classed as Unitarian. 

The Harvard-street Baptist Church, on Harrison Avenue, corner of 
Harvard Street, was organi/.cd in 1839, It was formed in lioylston Hall, 
and was for some time called the Boylston-street Church ; later it wor- 
shipped in the Melodeon Hall, now the Bijou Theatre; and finally, in 1842, 
the present edifice was erected. The successive pastors have been Robert 
Turnbull, D.D.; Joseph Banvard, D.D.; A. H. Burlingham, D.D.; D. C. 
Eddy, D.D.; Warren Randolph, D.D. ; L. L. Wood; T. J. B. House; 
O. T. Walker; and J. H. Gunning. Although having suffered by remov- 
als, between 1,700 and 1,800 persons have united with this church. The 
membership is nearly 300 ; the society is in a prosperous condition, and 
promises to continue in carrying on a good work in its vicinity. The l)uild- 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



195 




ing has a stone "swell " front, — almost alone in its style of architecture, — 
and contains seats for about r,ooo persons. 

The Columbus-avenue Universalist Church was organized in 181 7. Its 
first church was on School Street, on the site of the present School-street 
Block. Its present church edifice, erected in 1872, is of Roxbury stone, and 
is admirably adapt- 
ed to its uses, being 
exceedingly cheer- 
ful and pleasant, 
with painted win- 
dows, including the 
" Man of Sorrows," 
the " Risen Lord," 
and the twelve 
apostles ; symbols 
of Faith, Hope, 
Charity, and Puri- 
ty; and memorials 
of the first pastor, 
Hosea Ballou, its 
Sunday-school su- 
perintendent for 
thirty years, Thom- 
as A. Goddard, and 
eight deacons de- 
ceased before 1872. 
Its cost was $160,- 
000. The parish, 
whose legal title is 
" The Second So- 
ciety of Universal- 
ists in the Town of 
Boston," enjoyed 
the labors of its 
first pastor from 
181 7 to the time of 
his death, in 1852, 
at the age of 82 
years. He was a 
man of great in- 
sight, marked originality, and singular simplicity and clearness in all his 
reasonings and teachings. E. H. Chapin, D. D.. was his colleague from 




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Church, Columbus Avenue. 



196 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



May I, 1846, to May i, 1848, when he removed to the city of New York. 
The present pastor, A. A. Miner, D.D., LL.D., became colleague May i, 
1848, and sole pastor in 1852. He was president of Tufts College from 1862 
to 1875, preaching regularly during that period to his parish each morning 
service, and to the college audience in the afternoon. Dr. Miner is now 
one of the senior pastors of the city. He has been fifteen years a member 
of the State Board of Education, and throughout the 47 years of his minis- 
try an earnest pleader for the cause of liberty and prohibition. His parish, 
sharing thus largely in educational and reform work, has enjoyed great pros- 
perity, and held throughout its history a conspicuous place in the body of 
Universalist churches. 

The Mount-Vernon Church, on Ashburton Place, formerly Somerset 

Court, was completed and dedicated in 1844, six months after the corner- 

_ ^ stone was laid. The society was 

;^_ - — organized in 1842, chiefly to secure 

the services of Edward N. Kirk, 
D.D., as pastor, whose death, in 
1874, closed a life-long service of 32 
years, during which time he gathered 
about him a large and devoted con- 
gregation. Samuel E. Herrick, D.D., 
was installed in 1871 as pastor. At 
the organization of the church it had 
47 members. Since that time 1,596 
have been added. The present 
membership is 542. D wight L. 
Moody, the evangelist, first pro- 
fessed religion in this church. 

The First Congregational Soci- 
ety of Jamaica Plain (Unitarian), 

,4-w-^ previous to 1770, constituted a part 

, %\ ^ tL-,=«=«»«*^,^5,^j^^^ of the Second or Upper Parish of 

^^Mtk-< M^ ^^^. Roxbury. Mrs. Susanna Pember- 

Mount-v.ri c , -, Place. ^*^"' <^aughter of Peter Faneuil, with 

many other members, desired to 
have a church nearer their homes. Through her influence, and the liberality 
of her husband (Benjamin Pemberton), a new society was formed, and a 
church built at Jamaica Plain. It was called the Third Parish in Roxbury, 
and was incorporated under that name. The house was completed in 1770; 
and in 1783 Gov. John Hancock gave the society a church-bell that had been 
removed from the "New Brick" Church in Boston. In 1854 a beautiful 
stone edifice was erected on the site of the wooden building, and in 1871 it 




KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 197 

was remodelled. In 1863 the corporate name was changed to "The First 
Congregational Society of Jamaica Plain," The pastors have been : in 
1772, William Gordon, an Englishman, and author of the " History of the 
American Revolution;" in 1793, Thomas Gray; in 1836, George Whitney, 
as associate ; in 1843, Joseph H. Allen, now of Cambridge ; in 1845, Grindall 
Reynolds (now secretary of the A. U. A.); in 1859, James W. Thompson 
(died in 1881); and Charles F. Dole, now in charge. 

The South Congregational Church, on Union-park Street, was first pro- 
posed in 1825, to accommodate Congregationalists who resided in the vicinity 
of Boylston Market. The chairman of»the first meeting was Alden Bradford, 
ex-secretary of the Commonwealth. In 1828 was laid the corner-stone of a 
church, which was finished in the following January. The first minister 
was Mellish Irving Motte, who had previously been an Episcopal clergyman 
in Charleston, S.C. His ministry lasted for 15 years. His successor was 
Frederic Dan Huntington, who, after 13 years' successful service, left the 
society to become the Plummer Professor at Harvard College. He was 
succeeded by the present minister, Edward Everett Hale, a graduate of 
Harvard College, who is one of the most untiring workers among the 
clergymen of Boston, and whose literary work has made his name familiar 
all over the country. In 1860 a larger church proved necessary; and on 
the 8th of June, in the midst of war and rumors of war, the corner-stone 
was laid. With remarkable promptness this beautiful church was finished 
in seven months, and dedicated Jan. 8, 1862. For the first time a responsive 
service was used in the church ; and, after reading selections from the Bible, 
the congregation, who had built the church, with united voices dedicated it 
'^ To the glory of God our Father, 
To the gospel and memory of His Son, and 
To the communion and fellowship of His Spirit." 

The Walnut-avenue Congregational Church, Roxbury district, was pri- 
marily an offshoot from the Eliot Congregational Church. Public services 
were first held Oct. 2, 1870, and a Sunday school of 17 classes was formed. 
Dec. 19, following, the church was duly recognized by a council of churches 
in the vicinity, under its present name, and with a membership of 84, which 
had since increased to 266. Albert H. Plumb, D.D., was installed pastor, 
Jan. 4, 1872. The present edifice, called a chapel, though it is large, and 
has a seating capacity for about 600, is situated on the corner of Walnut 
Avenue and Dale Street. It is built of Roxbury stone, with Nova Scotia 
stone trimmings, and is of the Gothic style of architecture. Farewell ser- 
vices were held in Highland Hall, where the society first worshipped, May 
25, 1873 ; and the new chapel was dedicated the following day. 

The Winthrop Congregational Church is on Green Street, Charlestown 
district. It was incorporated March i, 1833, and called the "Winthrop 



198 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



Church" in remembrance of the pious Gov. John Winthrop, who founded a 
church in Charlestown in 1630. The first house of worship was on Union 
Street. The corner-stone of the present edifice was laid May 31, 1848. 
The building is Gothic, of brown-colored brick ; and the spacious audito- 
rium is old style with modern pulpit. The pastors have been Daniel 
Crosby, 1833-1842; John Humphrey, 1842-1847; Benjamin Tappan, jun., 
1848-1857; Abbott E. Kittredge (now of Chicago), 1859-1863; and J. E. 
Rankin (now of Washington, D.C.), 1 864-1 870. The present pastor is 

A. S. Twombly, 1872. The church 
has 500 members, and a large Sun- 
day school. It has always been 
distinguished as a conservative, 
generous society, maintaining the 
dignity of the Congregational pol- 
ity. It has been a "mother of 
churches," sending its members to 
nearly all the churches of its de- 
nomination in Boston and vicinity 
fro^ii time to time. Carlton College, 
Minnesota, and Doane College, 
Nebraska, were endowed largely 
by two of its members, and named 
from them. 

The Shawmut Congregational 
Church, organized in 1849, grew 
from the " Suffolk -street Union 
Church," a modest organization of 
50 members, formed on Nov. 20, 
1845. It worshipped in a little 
chapel on Shawmut Avenue, built 
by the City Missionary Society, 
with George A. Oviatt, the latter 
society's general agent, as pastor, 
organized Shawmut Congregational Church was 
who was installed Oct. 24, 1849. He was suc- 




Shawmut Congregational Church, Tremont Street. 



The first pastor of the 
William Cowper P'oster 
ceeded by Charles Smith, then of Andover, who was installed Dec. 8, 1853, 
and occupied the position until the autumn of 1858. The church was then 
without a pastor until June 14, i860, when Edwin B, Webb, D.D., the 
present pastor, was called. He was installed Oct. 5, that year. The chapel 
of the Missionary Society was used by the church until 1852, when a new 
meeting-house was built. Soon after Dr. Webb's settlement, this house was 
found to be inadequate; and in January, 1863, it was voted to erect a new 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 199 

one. Accordingly land was purchased on the corner of Tremont and Brook- 
line Streets; and the present building was erected, with a very beautiful 
interior, and was dedicated on Feb. 11, 186-I. The society maintains a 
mission-chapel, which was dedicated Nov. i, 1865. The twenty-fifth anni- 
versary of the church, placing the date of its organization at the time of the 
establishment of the "Suffolk-street Union Church," was celebrated on the 
20th of November, 1870; and George A. Oviatt, the first pastor, preached 
the historical sermon. 

The Union Church was organized on June 10, 1822, with twelve mem- 
bers ; on the 1 8th another member was admitted; and in August following 
twelve more, they having been dismissed from their respective churches to 
strengthen this young organization, — eight from the Park-street Church, 
three from the Old South, and one from the church in Braintree ; and in 
commemoration of this event the organization took its name. The first pas- 
tor of the church was Samuel Green, who was installed March 26, 1823. 
He resigned in 1833 on account of failing health ; and his pastorate ceased 
on the 26th of March, 1834, the eleventh anniversary of his installation. A 
few months later he died. During his ministry 600 members were added to 
the church. Nehemiah Adams of Cambridge succeeded Mr. Green, and 
continued as senior pastor until his death, Oct. 6, 1878. He was installed 
March 26, 1834; and in 1859 the twenty-fifth anniversary of his installation 
was duly celebrated. On Sunday, Feb. 14, 1869, Dr. Adams was taken dan- 
gerously ill in his pulpit, and from that time till May, 1871, was unable to 
preach; Henry M. Parsons in the meanwhile, Dec. i, 1870, having been 
installed as his associate. During Mr. Adams's active ministry, 993 per- 
sons were admitted to the church. Mr. Parsons was dismissed Dec. 30, 
1874; ^i^d on the 1st of February, 1876, Frank A. Warfield succeeded him. 
Robert R. Meredith, D.D., the present pastor, was installed Oct. 18, 1883. 
The church from which the Union Church was formed first gathered in 
Boylston Hall. Soon after, several individuals erected a meeting-house 
in Essex Street; but after the church had occupied it about two years 
difficulties arose between the pastor and some of his church, and the 
pastor and the church as a body removed to Boylston Hall again. Sub- 
sequently a minority, who declined to follow the pastor, were organized 
into a separate church, June 10, 1882; and Aug. 26 they took the name 
of Union Church, and obtained formal title to the Essex-street meeting- 
house the same day. In 1840 this was remodelled, at an expense of 
$20,000; and on May 22, 1869, after being occupied as a place of worship 
for almost half a century, the last public services were held within its 
walls, and it was soon after occupied for purposes of trade. The pres- 
ent beautiful and costly edifice on Columbus Avenue, corner of Newton 
Street, to which the church removed, was dedicated Nov. 17, 1870. The 



200 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

building of this church embarrassed the society by a heavy debt; but this 
was wholly removed a few years later. 

The Church of the Messiah (Episcopal), on Florence Street, was organ- 
ized in 1843. Its first rector was George M. Randall, D.D., afterwards 
Bishop of Colorado, who continued as rector until his elevation to the 
episcopate in 1866. Pelham Williams, D.D., was his successor, and served 
until 1876, when he resigned, and Henry Freeman Allen (the present rector) 
succeeded him. Mr. Allen is of a Boston family, and was graduated at Har- 
vard in i860. In 1869 the seats in the church were made free to all, and 
have so remained ever since. At the same time there were introduced in 
the parish various important changes in its practice, including the use of 
daily morning and evening prayer throughout the year, the celebration of 
the holy communion on all Sundays and festival-days, and the rendering 
of the musical part of the service by a surpliced male choir. The order and 
character of the services are still the same. 

The Twenty-eighth Congregational Society was founded by Theodore 
Parker. It was organized in November, 1845, by "friends of free thought," 
after Mr. Parker had been preaching for some months in Boston. Services 
were held in the Melodeon until the autumn of 1852, and afterwards in the 
Music Hall. Mr. Parker preached regularly until his illness in 1859, ^"d 
continued as minister until his death. May 10, i860. For a while after this, 
Samuel R. Calthrop, now of Syracuse, N.Y., occupied the pulpit; from May, 
1865, to July, 1866, David A. Wasson was the minister; during 1867 and 
1868, Rev. Samuel Longfellow; from December, 1868, to November, 1871, 
James Vila Blake ; and for several years after, J. L. Dudley. The society 
has also had occasional pulpit services of such men as Ralph Waldo Emer- 
son, WilHam Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips, John Weiss, Moncure D. 
Conway, Francis E. Abbot, O. B. Frothingham ; and such women as Ednah 
D. Cheney and Celia Burleigh. In 1866 the society removed to the Parker 
Fraternity Rooms, then at No. 554 Washington Street ; and in 1873 to the 
building on Berkeley, corner of Appleton Street, then newly erected by the 
fraternity as a memorial to Theodore Parker, and known as the Parker 
Memorial Hall. James Kay Applebee is the present minister. 

The New Jerusalem Church Society (Swedenborgian) was formed in 
1818, of twelve members; and at the present date the total membership is 
not far from 600. The late Thomas Worcester, D.D., the first pastor, w^as 
one of its original founders. During his collegiate course at Harvard he 
became deeply interested in the writings of Swedenborg, and entered the 
service of the newly formed society immediately after he was graduated. 
He continued as leader and pastor for forty-nine years. James Reed, the 
present pastor, Avas ordained as Dr. Worcester's assistant in i860, and suc- 
ceeded him in 1867. The house of worship on Bowdoin Street was built 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



20I 



and dedicated in 1845, ^"^^ has been occupied ever since. Its seating 
capacity is about 800. For a long time there was no other society of the 
New Jerusalem or Swedenborgian Church in Boston or vicinity. Within a 
few years, however, churches have been established in the Roxbury district, 
Brookline, Newton, and Waltham, largely composed of members of the 
original society. In consequence of the small number of neighboring 
societies, nearly every district and suburb of Boston is represented in the 
congregations of the Bowdoin-street church. There is probably no other 
church in the city whose regular attendants come, on the average, from so 
great a distance. 

The Congregational House is on the corner of Beacon and Somerset 
Streets. It was put into its present form, and consecrated to its present 
use, in 1873. It 
has a frontage on 
Beacon Street of 
103 feet, and on 
Somerset Street 
of 93 feet. It is 
built of faced 
granite, front 
and rear, and is 
owned and con- 
trolled by the 
American Con- 
gregational As- 
sociation, which 
was incorporated 
in 1854. It was 
intended to ac- 
commodate, first 

and chiefly, all the benevolent societies having ofiices in Boston to which the 
Congregational churches make their regular contributions. It has, there- 
fore, the executive officers and workers of the American Board of Commis- 
sioners for Foreign Missions, the Woman's Board, the Congregational 
Publishing Society, the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society, the 
American Missionary Association, the American College and Education 
Society, the American Peace Society, the Congregational Library, and the 
Boston City Missionary Society. The editorial and business rooms of 
" The Congregationalist," and of " The Literary World," Professor Robert 
R. Raymond's School of Oratory and Elocution, and Thomas Todd's printing- 
rooms, are in this building ; and three of its stores are occupied by the Rox- 
bury Carpet Company. It has a large hall on the third floor, in which the 




Congregational House, Beacon Street. 



202 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



Congregational ministers of Boston and vicinity hold weekly and occasional 
meetings, and the Congregational Club has its monthly social gatherings. 
The religious issues of these various organizations, in the form of weekly, 
monthly, quarterly, and annual publications, are numbered by millions, and 
sent to every part of the English-reading world. 

The Wesleyan Association building, 34 to 38 Bromfield Street, east of 
the Methodist church, was erected in 1870 by the Wesleyan Association, a 

corporation organized for the 
purpose of publishing a Meth- 
odist family paper. In the rear 
wing of the second story there 
is a fine hall, with seats for 300 
persons, that is used chiefly for 
meetings, lectures, and con- 
certs. Among the occupants of 
the building, are the Method- 
ist Theological Seminary and 
New-England Methodist His- 
torical Society, the Woman's 
Christian Temperance Union, 
the Massachusetts Total Ab- 
stinence Society, the Redpath 
Lyceum Bureau, the Society of 
Friends (meetings on First Day 
and Fourth Day), and other 

Wesleyan Association Building. Bromfield Street. interesting organizations and 

societies of a philanthropic, religious, or semi-literary character. 

The Boston Young Men's Christian Union was organized in 1851, and 
incorporated in 1852. Its new and beautiful building, 18 Boylston Street, 
was dedicated in 1876. The aim of the Union is to provide for young men 
a homelike resort, with opportunities for good reading, pleasant social in- 
tercourse, entertainment, and healthful exercise. The Union is aided by 
many practical philanthropists. The Christmas and New-Year's Festival 
for needy children, the work of the Ladies' Aid Committee, rides for in- 
valids, and the "Country Week" (a vacation for needy and worthy chil- 
dren), are some of its special charities. Religious services are held Sunday 
evenings, in the Union Hall; classes- are formed for the study of lan- 
guages, vocal music, elocution, sketching, phonography, book-keeping, 
penmanship, and the English branches; lectures, readings, and "practical 
talks " in banking, history, science, industry, etc., are given ; dramatic 
and musical entertainments are offered; members' socials and out-door 
excursions are provided. There is an Employment Bureau for young 




KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



203 



men, Bureau of Reference for ladies, Boarding-house Committee, Church 
Committee, Reception Committee, and a Visiting Committee to care for the 
sick. The Union is non-sectarian, and the membership fee is one dollar a 
year- William H. Baldwin is the president of the Union, Henry P. Kidder 
chairman of the board of trustees, and William Endicott, jun., treasurer. In 
1882, on account of the constantly increasing membership of the Union, and 
the growing and pressing need of still larger accommodations, the Society 
found that the building was still not spacious enough, and an enlargement 
was deemed necessary. An appeal was made to its many friends, who 
promptly and generously responded ; and the extension is now completed. 
This extension adds largely to the facilities of the Union, so that now all 
the various branches of its work can be done without being crowded as 
has frequently been the case during the last few years. Notably among 

the improvements which have been ac- 
complished by the extension, are those in 
the Hbrary and gymnasium. The library 
has been enlarged, so that now it has a 
capacity for from 40,000 to 50,000 vol 
umes, and is the largest reading-room in 
Boston, being 112 feet long and having 
5,000 feet of floor space. The gymnasium 
has been much improved, and nearly 3,000 
feet of floor space has been added, so that 
it has become the largest and most com- 
plete in the country. It is 136 feet in 
length, and covering 6,200 superficial feet, 
exclusive of dressing-rooms. Additional 
room has been provided for classes ; four 
large and three smaller class-rooms having 
been gained for this very popular and im- 
portant work of the Union. A hall with 
a seating capacity of 300 is also one of 
the fruits of this extension. The stage 
has also been much enlarged and im- 
proved. It is 36 feet wide and 34 feet 
deep, with a proscenium 21 feet, and is the largest private stage in the city. 
It is admirably adapted for concerts, lectures, and dramatic performances. 
The extension has a frontage of 72 feet on Boylston Square, so that now 
the Union building has light from all four sides, and covers an area of over 
11,000 feet. 

The Boston Young Men's Christian Association was organized Dec. 
22, 1851, and is the oldest " Y. M. C. A." in the United States. With the 




Young Men's Christian Union, Boylston St. 



204 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



exception of the Montreal association, which was formed only one week 
earher, it is the oldest in North America. The first rooms occupied by the 
Boston association were at the corner of Washington and Summer Streets. 
Its first president was Francis O. Watts. From 1853 to 1872 the Associa- 
tion occupied rooms in Tremont Temple; and from 1872 to 1883 it occupied 
a large building at the corner of Tremont and Eliot Streets. Durins: the 




Young Men's Christian Association, Boylston and Berkeley Streets, 

war, 500 of its members enlisted in the Union armies, and went into the field ; 
and tlie Army Relief Committee raised $333,23749, which was expended 
by the Christian Commission. The Association also rendered efficient ser- 
vice in sending aid to Chicago after its great fire ; over $34,000 in cash 
being raised, besides goods to the value of $219,000. Its present member- 
ship is over 4,000. The sociables, receptions, lectures, and classes are very 
popular among the young men of the city. The Association has erected on 
the corner of Boylston and Berkeley Streets, in the Back-bay district, a large 



KING ' 6" HA ND BOOK OF BOS TON. 



205 



and ornamental building in the Scotch baronial style of architecture, with 
the main entrance on Boylston Street, up a fine flight of stone steps, 22 feet 
wide, and through broad doors. The building cost 1300,000. Upon the left 
of the landing is a large reception-room, and opening from it on the north 
are two spacious parlors, connected by wide folding-doors. In this great 
building are large reading-rooms, and recreation-rooms devoted to chess, 
checkers, and parlor-games ; the hall used as a chapel ; lecture-rooms ; the 
large association-hall, extending upward three stories, richly fitted, and end- 
ing in an open-timbered roof. It is provided with an organ, and sittings 
are furnished for 1,000 people. Elsewhere are the rooms of the board of 
managers ; the kitchens and toilet-rooms ; several commodious class-rooms ; 
and a lyceum-room with amphitheatre seats for drawing-classes. In the rear 
of the main building is the gymnasium, occupying half the first floor and 
nearly all the basement. It is one of the finest in the country. There are 
twenty bath-rooms, and dressing-cases for 800 to 1,000 persons. A gallery 
around the gymnasium is used for a running-track. All of the first story of 
the building is built of brown stone, and the remainder of pressed brick and 
brown-stone trimmings. The corner-stone was laid in June, 1882, and the 
building was completed in 1883. A. S. Woodworth is president of the 
Association, and M. R. Deming general secretary. Visitors are welcome. 

The Young Women's Christian Association has erected, at the corner 
of Berkeley and Appleton Streets, a spacious building to serve as a home 
for young w^omen who are supporting themselves at work. The association 
has another large building on Warrenton Street, which served for many 
years as its headquarters. The new structure includes lecture-hall, read- 
ing-rooms, class-rooms, cafe, etc., and rooms for over a hundred young 
women, and is a handsome piece of architecture, situated in a quiet and 
pleasant residence-quarter. 

The Churches in Boston are numerous and varied. The number in 
each denomination is shown in the following table : — 





X. 






'^ 






M 


FIRST CON- 




CO 


FIRST CON- 


DENOMINATION. 




GREGATION 


DENOMINATION. 


§ 


GREGATION 




z 


ORGANIZED. 




ORGANIZED. 


Baptist 


26 


1743 


Methodist Episcopal • . 


28 


177I 


Catholic Apostolic . . . 


I 


1804 


New Jerusalem .... 


2 


1818 


Christian 


I 


1804 


Presbyterian 


7 


1846 


Congregational Trinitarian 


31 


1632 


Reformed 


I 


1833 


Congregational Unitarian . 


28 


1630 


Reformed Episcopal , . 


I 




Episcopal ... ... 


21 


1723 


Roman Catholic .... 


30 


1803 


Free Baptist 


I 


1835 


Second Advent .... 


I 


1840 


Friends 


2 




Union 


II 




Jewish . 


TO 


1843 


Universalist 


II 


1735 


Lutheran . . .... 


5 


1834 










Methodist . . .... 


2 


1839 


Total . ... 


217 





2o6 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

The general movement of the churches has for many years led from the 
old cradle of Boston, the North End, into the new wards on the south and 
west; and one by one the ancient Puritan fanes have been deserted, and 
given up to the uses of trade. The places made vacant by the descendants 
of the first colonists have been filled by immigrants from Europe, mainly 
Irish people, Italians, and Portuguese from the Azores, who have raised for 
themselves spacious Roman-Catholic churches on the old Puritan hills, and 
have replaced the vanished deacons with pale nuns. The Azores men have 
gone even farther, and under their dingy little church (just off Hanover 
Street) have discovered a miraculous spring, whose waters are efficient for 
the healing of the faithful. These churches, at least the shrines under the 
control of the Roman hierarchy, are crowded with worshippers, and have 
very frequent services ; while those that they have driven away, the Prot- 
estant churches, whose early corporate lives were passed here, though now 
rising in the patrician wards with great splendor of architecture, are com- 
paratively slender as regards their congregations. One by one the venera- 
ble religious societies of the colonial and provincial eras have moved away, 
until only Christ Church (and even that a prelatical institution) remains to 
look down the harbor from the slope of Copp's Hill. The latest of these 
ecclesiastical veterans to retire from its ancient standpoint is the Hollis- 
street Unitarian society, whose antique and picturesque building was sold 
at auction in the late spring of 1883. The locality of Hollis Street, once 
surrounded by aristocratic residences, is being more and more encroached 
upon by trade ; and the society at last recognized the need of a new meet- 
ing-house on the Back Bay. At first it was planned to take down the old 
church, and re-erect it in the Boston Belgravia, where its quaint architec- 
ture and time-darkened materials would have made a very interesting con- 
trast with the spick-and-span new houses of the residence-quarter. 

The old State Church, the Congregationalist, which for so many years 
held a monopoly of the religious ministrations of Massachusetts, has been 
pressed into the Ijackground by the rising tide of other sects, and by the 
advance of secularism. More than six-sevenths of the local churches are 
outside the Puritan faith, and more than seven-eighths of the church-goers. 
Nearly one-half of the attendants on religious services are Roman-Catholics. 
But, great as these changes are, the city founded by Winthrop still preserves 
a high and noble spirit of devotion, and is famous far and wide for its prac- 
tical charities and wise philanthropies, and its eminent efforts in the direc- 
tion of the elevation and improvement of the distressed and unfortunate. 
The first day of the week is still observed here with great decorum, widely 
different from the vSunday life of certain other American cities ; and the 
business-district, on that sacred day, is as silent and deserted as a section 
of Pompeii. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



207 



Vc^t fgeart of t!}c (fTitg, 

BENEVOLENT AND CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS, HOMES, 
AND ASYLUMS. 



THE many public and private organized charities of Boston are quite 
bewildering in their variety; and their work is done, as a rule, system- 
atically and well. Many thousand dollars are expended annually; and every 
class of the poor and unfortunate is in one way or another reached, more 
or less satisfactorily, by the several organizations ; and it would seem that, 
in a city so well supplied with such institutions, and with such a noble band 
of professional and volunteer workers, there should be little suffering and 
want within its limits. But, alas, and alas ! " The poor ye have always with 
you." And Boston, in spite of the organized efforts of thoughtful and good 
people, and the annual expenditure of large sums of money, has its full 
share of unrelieved suffering and want. 

The Central Charity Bureau and Temporary Home, estabhshed by the 
city, aided by 
$20,000 sub- 
scribed by citi- 
zens, occupies 
three substan- 
tial buildings 
of brick with 
granite trim- 
mings, o n 
C h a r d o n 
Street; and 
here are ad- 
ministered its 
official out- 
door charities. 
The Charity 
Building is oc- 
cupied by the 
overseers of 

the poor, the city physician, and the paymaster of the soldiers' relief; and 
by the following private charitable societies : the Boston Provident Asso- 




Charity Building and Tennporary Home, Chardon Street. 



2o8 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

ciation, the Industrial Aid Society, the Boston Sewing Circle, the Ladies' 
Relief Association, the Young Men's Benevolent Society, the German Emi- 
grant Aid Society, the Boston Police Relief Association, the Ladies' Co- 
operative Visiting Society, the Associated Charities, the Homoeopathic 
Dispensary, and several other organizations of similar character. Since 
the establishment of this bureau, the charities of the city have been dis- 
pensed more systematically than ever before, and imposture in their bestowal 
has been to a large extent prevented. The Temporary Home is designed to 
provide for foundlings, and persons in a destitute condition. Only women 
and children are allowed there. The architects of the buildings were Sturgis 
& Brigham. The Hawkins-street Lodge for Wayfarers, opened January, 
1879, '^ the old Mayhew Schoolhouse, provides food and lodging for home- 
less males, for a limited time; those able being required to work in the 
wood-yard connected with the lodge. 

The Directors for Public Institutions, whose office is at 30 Pemberton 
Square, have charge of the city poor and reformatory institutions, a list of 
which is given in the chapter on " The Public Buildings." The places under 
their charge where the official indoor charities are administered include, — 

The Almshouse for Girls, situated on Deer Island, where in 1880 there 
was an average of 70 inmates, besides an average of 65 inmates in the 
nursery connected with the house; the almshouse for male paupers, on 
Rainsford Island, where 245 persons were kept in 1880, — a larger number 
than in any previous year ; the almshouse situated in the Charlestown dis- 
trict, on the north side of the Mystic River, near Maiden Bridge, where in 
1880 an average of 40 inmates was accommodated, 39 persons provided with 
lodgings, and 475 furnished with meals, — the whole cost of the meals being 
$50 ; the Home for the Poor, on the Austin farm in the West-Roxbury dis- 
trict, which in 1880 had an average of 159 inmates ; and the Marcella-street 
Home for pauper and neglected boys, with an average of 218 inmates. 

Of the character and extent of the private charities and benevolent work 
of the city, the following concise sketches of a few of the prominent organi- 
zations will give a fair idea; and they contain much interesting information. 

The Associated Charities was organized, in 1879, to secure the concur- 
rent and harmonious action of the different charities of the city for these 
purposes : " to raise the needy above the need of relief, prevent begging 
and imposition, and diminish pauperism; to encourage thrift, self-depend- 
ence, and industry through friendly intercourse, advice, and sympathy ; and 
to aid the poor to help themselves, rather than to help them by alms." At 
the central office, located in the Charity Building on Chardon Street, a 
registry of applicants for charitable aid is kept, with a record of what is 
given to, and what is known of, them. This information is disclosed only 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 209 

for tlie benefit of the persons registered, or to detect imposition. Individu- 
als or societies, stating that they have been applied to for relief by any 
person, receive prompt reports, from the central office, of aid given to the 
same person, with other information, so that they can wisely decide what 
relief, if any, to continue. The city is divided into districts; and confer- 
ences are established in each district, composed of representatives and 
visitors of all charitable organizations and churches working in the district, 
and a few other persons, who are elected. Each conference sees that every 
application for aid in its district is thoroughly investigated; studies how 
applicants for relief can be made self-supporting, and helps them in that 
direction ; obtains aid from the appropriate sources for those unable to earn 
support; organizes for these purposes a corps of volunteer visitors; and 
holds weekly meetings for the discussion and disposition of cases. A board 
of directors has general supervision of the registration, of the district con- 
ferences, of the funds, and of measures for the attainment of the objects 
of the society. The president is Robert Treat Paine, jun. ; secretary, 
G. A. Goddard. 

The Boston Provident Association was organized in 1851, and incor- 
porated three years later, to aid in suppressing street-beggary, and in 
*' elevating and improving the condition of the poor." Relief is distributed 
systematically in all sections of the city, through special officers serving 
gratuitously; and to many employment is furnished. About 2,500 families 
are relieved by this society yearly. The expenses of the society average 
$15,000 a year. It is supported by yearly subscriptions, donations, and in- 
come from legacies. The head office is in the Charity Building, Chardon 
Street. 

The Roxbury Charitable Society was formed as long ago as 1 794, for 
" the relief of the poor and the prevention of pauperism." Clothing, fuel, 
provisions, and money to a limited extent, are distributed, through an agent, 
exclusively to citizens of the Roxbury district. The society has a large 
fund, from legacies, donations, and subscriptions ; and its disbursements are 
generous and extensive. The agent has headquarters at 118 Roxbury St. 

The Home for Aged Poor, Roxbury district, was established in 1870, 
and incorporated two years later, by the " Little Sisters of the Poor," a 
Catholic sisterhood instituted some years ago in France by a poor priest 
and two working-girls of St. Servan. Their special purpose is to support 
old people in various countries. The sisterhood now includes 2,000 sisters, 
and supports 20,000 old people. Applicants are received without regard to 
their religious professions or nationality: they must simply be of good 
moral character, destitute, and 60 years old. The charity is maintained by 
daily collections of the sisters, and by donations. Among those who have 
aided it by gifts is Mrs. Andrew Carney, the widow of the founder of the 



2IO 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



Carney Hospital. The Home is pleasantly situated on Dudley Street, cor« 
ner of Woodward Avenue. One building accommodates 41 aged women, 
and another 40 aged men. Eleven sisters manage the institution, and the 
sisters do the domestic work. None receive salaries or wages. When the 
new building 'was completed in 1880, there were accommodations for 200 
old people. 

The Winchester Home for Aged Women, in the Charlestown district, 
was founded from a bequest, valued at $10,000, left by Mrs. Nancy Win- 
chester of that district for this purpose, and was opened in 1866 with six 




Hester Home for Aged Women, Eden Street, Charlestown D tr c 



inmates: the present number is 36. The building now occupied, No, 10 
Eden Street, was erected in 1872-3. The beneficiaries must be of American 
birth, 60 years of age, and must have been residents of the Charlestown 
district for ten years preceding application. They are charged $100 for 
admission fee, and about $50 for furniture. The expenses are met by the 
income of the Winchester property, entertainments, donations, and sub- 
scriptions. Liverus Hull is president, Abram E. Cutter secretary, Charles 
E. Daniels treasurer, and Mrs. Abbie T. Fernald matron. 

The Home for Aged Colored Women, situated at 27 Myrtle Street, was 
founded in i860, and incorporated four years later. Among those interested 
in its establishment were the late Gov. John A. Andrew and James Free- 
man Clarke. It cares for from 18 to 20 inmates, and renders outside assist- 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



2TI 



ance to others. It is supported by subscriptions and donations, its ex- 
penses being from $3,000 to $4,000 a year. Its general work is carried on 
by the directors, most of whom are ladies. 

The Home for Aged Women, at 108 Revere Street, was organized in 
1849, and has furnished a home to over 330 aged persons, of whom over 
200 have died 
while in its care. 
The present num- 
ber of inmates is 
about 80. In ad- 
dition, about 40 
persons who have 
served in Boston 
for ten years as 
nurses to the 
sick receive aid 
at their own 
homes in quar- 
terly instalments, 
from the Doane 
Fund, specially 




Home for Aged Women, Revere Street. 



bequeathed for this purpose. Henry B. Rogers is president, Henry Emmons 
secretary, and Miss L. Do Paddock matron.* 

Disabled Soldiers and Sailors and their families, and the families of 
those who lost their lives in the late war, and who have died since the war 
of injuries received or disease contracted during service, receive aid from 
the city at the Central Charity Bureau on Chardon Street. During the 
year 1882 the amount paid was $96,000. At the beginning of 1883 there 
were about 1,400 beneficiaries. The State repays the city for amounts paid 
out in this aid. 

The Industrial Temporary Home, No. 17 Davis Street, was chartered 
in 1877, to furnish temporary lodging and food for destitute persons of both 
sexes, who are willing to work. In 1882, 30,761 meals and 17.853 beds 
were provided, and good reformatory work was done. Help for laundry- 
work, sewing, wood-sawing, and manual labor of all kinds, is furnished bv 
the institution, which is supported by the income derived in that way, and 
by contributions. Rev. A. J. Gordon is president, Mrs. G. W. Hawkins 
matron, and George W. Hawkins superintendent. Contributions of cast-off 
clothing are solicited. 

The Home for Aged Men, on Springfield Street, which was organized 
in 1861, is an institution the purpose of which is to provide a home for, and 
otherwise assist, respectable aged and indigent men. Since its establish- 



212 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON 



ment, there have been 120 inmates, and 100 old men have received aid at 
their own homes. The home was first opened in 1861, at No. 17 South 
Street, and was removed in 1869 to the present building, which was pur- 
chased of the city. The building was erected in 1855 for a lying-in hospital, 
_^ _^. -^^ and was occupied 

^ *' - 3=^=i- ym^^g ^ for that purpose 

"^' almost two years. 

It was subse- 




quently 
by the 
Medical 



bought 
Female 
College, 



but soon reverted 
to the city, and 
during the war, 
and for several 
years after, was 
used as a home 
for discharged 
soldiers. Only 
natives of the 
United States are 
admitted as bene- 
ficiaries. The 
Home is sup- 

Honne for Aged Men, Sprmgfield Street. ^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^_ 

tary contributions. R. C Greenleaf is president, David H. Coolidge clerk, 
and Sarah W. Lincoln superintendent. 

The Children's Home, and Home for Aged Females, originated in 
1856, and opened in 1859, ^s designed to provide for orphan or half-orphan 
children, and old women of small means having no near kindred. It charges 
a low rate of board, — for children $2.00, and women $4.00 per week. It is 
pleasantly situated on Copeland Street,, in the Roxbury district; and the 
number of inmates averages 20. The yearly expenses are ^4,500, and it 
is supported by subscriptions and generous donations. The management is 
not sectarian. 

The Temporary Home for the Destitute cares for young children, and 
finds homes for them where they will be well treated, and brought up in a 
manner that will make them useful members of society. It also relieves 
destitute children, infants, and women out of employment. The work 
began 32 years ago, through the efforts of John Augustus and Eliza 
Garnaut, the former a poor shoemaker, and the latter an estimable widov/. 
It was incorporated in 1852. During the year 1877 the Home received 268 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



213 



children, including 34 infants, returned 140 of them to their parents, placed 
79 for adoption, and provided homes for 60 in families. The president is 
John Ayres, and the matron Mrs. A. L. Gwynne, who has served since 1848. 
The Home is at No. i Pine Place. 

The Children's Mission to the Children of the Destitute occupies a 
brick building at No. 277 Tremont Street, near Hollis Street. It was 
instituted in 1849, incorporated in 1864, and is fostered by the Unitarians, 
though it is not sec- — ,, =^ 

tarian in its functions 
or purposes. Its ob- 
jects are thus stated : 
" First, A mission to 
the poor, ignorant, 
neglected, orphan, 
and destitute chil- 
dren of this city ; to 
gather them into day 
and Sunday schools, 
to provide homes 
and employment for 
them, and to adopt 
and pursue such 
measures as will be 
most likely to save 
or rescue them from vice, ignorance, and degradation ; and to place them 
where they will receive such an education and be taught such occupations 
as will best fit them to support themselves, and enable them to become 
good and useful members of society. Second, To excite in the minds of the 
children of the more favored portion of our community a spirit of Christian 
sympathy and active benevolence, and, by interesting them in a work which 
appeals so strongly to their hearts, to stimulate them to acts of self-denial 
and earnest helpfulness, and thus prevent the growth of those seeds of 
selfishness which are so often early planted in the young mind." The 
Mission has found homes in New England and the West for over 7,000 
children, and has afforded temporary aid to many more. Henry P. Kidder 
is president, and William Crosby superintendent. 

The Massachusetts Infant Asylum was incorporated in 1867, to assist 
and provide for deserted and destitute infants. Babes of nine months and 
under are received, and when reaching the age of twa years are discharged, 
excepting in cases of delicate health when discharge might endanger their 
lives. The State pays the Asylum for the board of State pauper infants. It 
occupies a building of its own in the Jamaica-Plain district, near the Boyl- 




Children's Mission, Tremont Street. 



214 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



ston station of the Providence Railroad. Tlie average number of infants 
provided for annually is about 225. Usually about 25 children are cared 
for in the asylum, and between 50 and 60 are boarded out, according to a plan 
adopted three years ago to relieve the house from the pressure of increas- 
ing admissions. The yearly expenses are between $13,000 and $14,000. 

The Infant School and Children's Home, incorporated in 1869, to take 
and care for children until their parents could provide for them, and to find 
permanent homes for children without friends or worthy parents, is an out- 
growth from an institution started in 1833 to care for poor children during 
the absence of their parents at daily work. The present Home is at No. 36 
Austin Street, Charlestown district. About 30 children are cared for each 
year; and the annual expense of the Home is about $1,500, met by private 
subscriptions and donations. 

The Church Home for Orphans and Destitute Children has grown, from 
an organization in 1854 to systematically provide clothing for poor children 
to enable them to attend Sunday school, to a thoroughly equipped home 
that is now providing for 100 children. The Home is situated at the cor- 
ner of Broadway, N, and Fourth Streets, and is supported and controlled 
by the Protestant Episcopal churches of the diocese of Massachusetts, 
though children of all denominations are received. The expenses aver- 
age $10,000 a year, and are met by subscriptions and donations. 

St. Vincent's Orphan Asylum, for destitute girls, was established in 
1 83 1, and incorporated in 1845. I^ is located on Shawmut Avenue, corner 
of Camden Street. Children are admitted without regard to creed or color, 
and from time to time are given for adoption or placed out at service. Thir- 
teen Catholic sisters have charge of the institution, and serve without pay; 
doing too, with the children, the domestic work. The yearly expense, about 
$12,000, is met by annual collections taken in all the Catholic churches in 

the city and vicinity, donations, and 
fairs ; and each church supports a 
certain number of children. The 
expenses of some children are paid 
by relatives or friends. The Asy- 
lum cares for 225 children annually. 
The Association for the Protec- 
tion of Destitute Roman Catholic 
Children was organized and incor- 
porated in 1864, and a home es- 
tablished for destitute orphan or 
neglected children. The present 
building, which cost with the land 
nearly $150,000, is situated on Harrison Avenue, opposite the Church of the 
Immaculate Conception. Between 300 and 400 children are annually re- 




Roman-Calholic Home for Orphans. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OP BOSTON. 



215 



ceived into the institution, and are cared for and instructed by the Sisters 
of Charity. On leaving, the children are returned to their friends, places 
are found for them, or they are provided with homes elsewhere. The corpo- 
ration is wholly Catholic, though destitute children of all denominations are 
received. The yearly expenses, between $12,000 and $14,000, are met by 
income from fairs, donations, collections in churches, etc. No payment for 
children is received. 

St. Joseph's Home for Females is a home for domestics sick and out of 
work, and is managed by the sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis. It 
is a Catholic institution, at 
Nos. 41,- 43, and 45 Brook- 
line Street. It is wholly a 
charitable institution, and 
with few exceptions no 
charges are made to the in- 
mates. Mother Mary Cor- 
bett is the superior. 

The Baldwin-place 
Home for Little Wander- 
ers is a worthy charitable 
institution at the North 
End. Its object is to res- 
cue children from want and 
shame, acting as an unsec- 
tarian New-England home 
for orphan and destitute 
children, who can be given 
up legally to be prepared 
for and placed in Christian 
homes. It was incorporated and dedicated in 1865. The number of chil- 
dren received in 18 years has been 5,300. J. Warren Merrill is president; 
John O. Bishop secretary; William G. Brooks, jun., treasurer; and R. G. 
Toles superintendent. 

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul, organized in 1S61, was incorporated 
in 1869, for the purpose of "training its members to a life of Christian 
charity." The poor are visited at their homes, and relieved ; a number ot 
young children are supported by the society at the St. Ann's Infant Asylum. 
Under its supervision are 14 subordinate organizations, or conferences, one 
of which is in Chelsea, and one in Cambridgeport. The members must be 
Catholics ; and the funds are derived from their voluntary subscriptions, 
donations, lectures, collections in churches, etc. Its income is large, and its 
expenditures generous. It aids yearly over 3,000 families, and its agents 




Home for Little Wanderers, Baldwin Place, 



2 16 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



average 20,000 visits. The society is a branch of the society of the same 
name in Paris, which originated in 1833. 

The House of the Angel Guardian, a Catholic institution, was established 
in 1851, and incorporated in 1853. Its chief object is to care for orphan 
boys, and others in need of salutary discipline. Its graded school system 
is very efficient, and draws many boarders who materially aid in its support, 
and avail themselves of the instruction given in the English, commercial, 
and mathematical departments. Its property is valued at more than $87,000. 
Its support is derived partly from boarders' fees, and partly from private 




House of the Angel Guardian, Vernon Street. 



contributions. Its annual expenses are about $20,000, and the number of 
inmates average about 200. The house was established and planned by 
the Rev. George F. Haskins, a graduate of Harvard College, who devoted 
to it his services as rector and treasurer till his death, in 1872. He con- 
tributed over $25,000. It is now conducted by the Brothers of Charity, of 
which Brother Eusebius is superior; and for order, neatness, and comfort 
is not excelled by any institution in the State. It is beautifully situated at 
85 Vernon Street, Roxbury district. 

The Penitent Females' Refuge and Bethesda Society is formed by the 
practical union of two organizations, — the "Associated Brethren," an or- 
ganization of twelve gentlemen who established the Females' Refuge in 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON 217 

1818; and the Bethesda Society, an organization of ladies, incorporated 
in 1854. The society maintains a home for the refornration of abandoned 
women. It accommodates 23 inmates, of ages ranging from 14 to 31 ; and 
admission is conditional upon an expression of a sincere desire to reform, 
and promise of submission to the regulations. The home is at No. 32 Rut- 
land Street, in a building that cost $12,000, the gift of benevolent citizens, 
on Tand given by the city. The institution is supported by income from a 
permanent fund of $10,000, and generous gifts and subscriptions. 

The New-England Moral Reform Society is an organization designed 
to shelter unfortunate young girls, who have been deceived and abandoned 
by those who should have befriended them. Efforts are made to reform 
and restore such to society and their friends, and aid them to suitable em- 
ployment if necessary. The society cares for 30 or 40 women yearly, and 
its annual expenses average $4,000. It is located at No. 6 Oak Place. One 
of its founders, Catherine S. Kilton, was for 30 years its president. The 
society publishes a monthly magazine, " The Home Guardian," from which 
it receives some income. It is further supported by subscriptions, the pro- 
ceeds of certain investments, and gifts and legacies. The society was or- 
ganised in 1836, and incorporated in 1846. 

The Industrial School for Girls was incorporated in 1855, "for the pur- 
pose of training to good conduct, and instructing in household labor, desti- 
tute or neglected girls." It is located on Centre Street, Dorchester district, 
and has accommodations for about 30 girls. The age of admission js from 
6 to 10, and places are found for the girls when they leave the school, gener- 
elly at 18 years of age. Such girls as have relatives or friends able to do 
so, pay a moderate sum for board, but the most of them are cared for gratui- 
tously. The annual cost of the school is about $5,000. It is sustained by 
yearly subscriptions, and income from investments. 

The Scots' Charitable Society was incorporated in 1786; but it was in 
existence long before that time, having been founded in 1657. It is believed 
to be the oldest private charitable society in the city. Its object is to fur- 
nish relief to, and aid in various ways, unfortunate Scottish immigrants, 
their families and descendants. In 1869 St. Andrew's Home was tempo- 
rarily established by the society at 73 West Concord Street, where unfortu- 
nate Scots were received and cared for until employment was found ; but in 
1872 the Scots' Temporary Home was permanently established at No. ']'] 
Camden Street. The society also owns a lot at Mount Auburn, where 
friendless Scots receive burial. The income of the society is derived from 
a permanent fund, initiation-fees, yearly assessments of members, and dona- 
tions. The membership is now 265. Active members must be natives of 
Scotland, or immediate descendants ; but honorary members may be of 
different nationalities. From 200 to 300 annually receive the benefits of the 
society. Among tlie working officers is a committee of charity. 



2i8 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

The Charitable Irish Society is another organization of long standing. 
It was organized in 1737, and incorporated in 1809; and for nearly a cen- 
tury it was the only Irish charitable society in New England. Its original 
purpose was to furnish temporary loans to needy members, and to relieve 
friendless Irish immigrants ; but of later years it has made annual donations 
of from $300 to $500 to some deserving charity, few members calling for 
aid. The years immediately following the Revolutionary War, it extended 
timely relief to those of its members who were disabled, in one way and 
another, by the war. Its meetings are held at the Parker House, but it has 
no established headcjuarters. 

The German Emigrant Aid Society extends a helping hand to German 
immigrants, principally in aiding them to employment, and providing tempo- 
rary support; it also aids poor German residents, particularly widows and 
orphans, or the sick. The society employs an agent to look after immi- 
grants arriving at the port of Boston. It aids about 800 persons yearly. 
Its income is derived from the invested funds, dues from members (who 
number 220), and from donations. The society has an office in the Charity 
Building, Chardon Street. 

The New-England Scandinavian Benevolent Society was organized in 
1853, and incorporated two years later, its main object being mutual relief: 
of late years its aid has been given, to a considerable extent, to persons not 
members. It distributes about |; 1,000 a year to the poor. The member- 
ship is 180. The office of the society is at No. 3 Tremont Row. 

The Massachusetts Society for Aiding Discharged Convicts is a prac- 
tical organization which offers a helping hand, when it is most needed, to 
those who face the world again after a term in prison. It aids the convict 
just after his discharge, with temporary board, clothing, conveyance to 
friends, tools to work with, and helps him to find employment. The society 
was organized in 1846, and was incorporated under its present name in 1867. 
Among its founders were Charles Sumner, S. G. Howe, Walter Channing, 
and Edward E. Hale. The average number of convicts helped each year 
is 350. The funds are provided by yearly subscriptions, gifts, and legacies. 
It expends from $2,000 to $5,000 yearly. 

The Young Men's Benevolent Society, organized in 1 827, but not in- 
corporated until 1852, is "to assist those who have seen better days," espe- 
cially respectable persons who are unwilling to make their needs publicly 
known". It has a standing committee resident in different sections of the 
city, and applications are received by them. Its expenditures are mostly in 
supplies and the payment of rents. It obtains funds partly from annual 
assessments on its members, but chiefly from donations. An average of 
1,000 cases of destitution are relieved yearly. The president is Thomas 
Gaffield, and the secretary J. Russell Reed. Its meetings are held in the 
Charity Building. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



219 



The Needlewoman's Friend Society was organized in 1847, and incor- 
porated in 185 1, for the purpose of providing employment for indigent 
females. Materials for garments are supplied by the funds of the society, 
the cutting is done by the managers, the sewing is given out to poor women 
at remunerative prices, and the garments thus made are offered for sale at 
low prices, at the rooms of the society, 149 A Tremont Street. The society 
also finds permanent employment for poor seamstresses in the finer sort of 
needlework. Its funds are raised by subscriptions and donations, and it 
has received several legacies. 

The Boston Sewing Circle does a work similar to that of the Needle- 
woman's Friend Society. Money for materials, about $2,400 a year, is 
raised by annual subscription. Garments are cut by the ladies of different 
churches each week through the winter ; and the work is done by the poor 
under charge of the several ladies who pay for it, and distribute the gar- 
ments, when done, to charitable 
societies. Each winter it benefits 
3,000 or more poor women. The 
society was formed in 1862, to 
work for the soldiers ; and for a 
while after the war the garments 
made for it were distributed to 
the white school-children of the 
South. Its headquarters are in 
the Charity Building. The whole 
board of managers, of which 
Miss I. E. Loring is president, is 
composed of ladies. 

The Boston Port and Sea- 
men's Aid Society was incorpo- 
rated in 1867 by the union of the 
Port Society and the Seamen's 
Aid Society. Its aim is to "im- 
prove the moral, religious, and 
general condition of seamen and 
their families in Boston and its 
vicinity; to relieve sick and dis- 
abled seamen and their families ; 
to afford aid and encouragement 
to poor and industrious seamen ; 
and to promote the education of 
seamen's children." The Mariners' House, built by the Port Society in 
1847, is a brick building, four stories high. No. 11 North Square, and is 




220 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

under charge of an experienced mariner. It accommodates from 80 to 100 
persons, and has a chapel, reading-room, and library. S. E. Breen is the 
pastor, and Capt. J. B. Hatch the superintendent. Rev. S. K. Lothrop, D.D., 
is president of the society. There are over 3,300 boarders yearly. The 
Seamen's Bethel, a modest structure opposite, seats 1,100, and has vestries 
seating 125 and 300 persons respectively. It was here that the famous ex- 
mariner, Edward T. Taylor, better known as " Father Taylor," preached. 

The Boston Seaman's Friend Society is a branch of the American Sea- 
man's Friend Society, and has for its object the furnishing of regular evan- 
gelical ministrations for seamen, and the employment of other means for 
their spiritual and temporal welfare. It supports the Salem and Mariners' 
Church, and Sailors' Home, corner of Salem and North Bennet Streets. 
Joseph C. Tyler is president, and Capt. Andrew Bartlett is the missionary. 
This work is principally supported by contributions from the Orthodox 
Congregational churches of Boston and its vicinity. 

The House of the Good Shepherd is a branch of the New-York society 
of the same name. It was established in 1867, and owes its foundation 
largely to Bishop Williams of Boston, who provided its first site, a dwelling- 
house on Allen Street, and supplied its early needs. Its object is " to pro- 
vide a refuge for the reformation of fallen women and girls ; " and it also 
maintains a " Class of Preservation," made up of wayward and insub- 
ordinate girls, whose habits endanger their virtue. The present house is 
located on Tremont Street, Roxbury district, in a building erected for it. 
It has provision for 150 inmates, and is crowded. It is managed by the 
Sisters of the Good Shepherd, a Catholic society originating in France in 
1646; but girls and women of all denominations are admitted. A grant 
of $10,000 was made by the State in 1870, to aid in building the present 
edifice. 

Boffin's Bower is one of the most original and useful charities in the 
city. Jennie Collins is the presiding genius of this excellent establishment 
at No. 1031 Washington Street, where, since 1874, many poor working 
women have been fed, clothed, and sheltered until they were able to obtain 
an honest livelihood. From May 30, 1881, to May 30, 1882, 1,545 women 
and girls applied for employment; and in the same period of time 1,154 
applicants for the services of women made known their wants. The charity 
is supported by voluntary contributions, and has done good practical work, 
providing temporarily for unemployed workwomen who would, without aid, 
frequently suffer from hunger or illness ; and there is no doubt that many 
poor girls have been saved from a life of shame by its ministrations. 

The Children's Friend Society provides for the support of indigent 
children, who are either fully surrendered to it, or received as boarders. 
Those surrendered are indentured at. 12 years of age, and remain under 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 221 

guardianship until 18. The society's home, at No. 48 Rutland Street, pro- 
vides for 70 children. The society has been in operation since 1833, and 

originated in the personal labors of a Mrs. Burns, a lady of moderate 

means, resident at the North End, who received into her own house a num- 
ber of poor children, and cared for them. 

The Boston Female Asylum, at 1 008 Washington Street, was founded 
in 1800. Its name is somewhat misleading, for it is simply a home for 
female orphans and half-orphans. Full surrender of the children is re- 
quired on their admission, and they remain until 18 years of age. Between 
70 and 80 children are provided for in the asylum. 

The Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 
with office at i Bosworth Street, was organized in 1868, and has investigated 
over 33,000 cases, and convicted more than 3,000 persons. It has issued 
more than 1,500,000 copies of its monthly paper, " Our Dumb Animals," 
and over 500,000 of its other publications. It has also offered prizes to 
Massachusetts school-children for the best compositions on " Kindness to 
Animals," and has given rewards for essays, inventions, and improvements 
for the benefit of dumb creatures. It has at present four prosecuting offi- 
cers in Boston, constantly employed, and about 500 prosecuting agents in 
the other cities and towns of the State. The amount paid into this society 
since its organization is about $250,000. The president is George T. 
Angell, and the secretary is Joseph L. Stevens. It has a large and dis- 
tinguished list of honorary mem.bers. 

The Co-operative Society of Visitors among the Poor, organized in 
1874, and incorporated in 1877, consists of a body of visitors who make 
weekly personal visits among the poor. No visitor takes more than four 
cases, in hope of finding work, or what may be called legitimate relief, for 
that number of persons. The society has also established work-rooms in 
the Charity Building, where poor women who really want work can get 
it. The president is Mrs. James Lodge, and the secretary is Mrs. B. S. 
Calef. 

The Industrial Aid Society was incorporated in the year 1835, under 
the name of the Boston Society for the Prevention of Pauperism, to which, 
in 1866, was prefixed "The Industrial Aid Society." This society was 
founded upon the idea that employment was the best form of charity, and 
that there was but little opportunity for deception under this rule. Its 
principles of action have been adopted by other organizations, and by the 
city in some measure. It finds employment for people, transfers laborers 
to other places, and returns many to their homes. Its office is in the 
Charity Building, Chardon Street. 

The Ladies' City Relief Association is an organization in the Charity 
Building, and distributes money and clothing to persons found, by personal 



222 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

investigation, to be worthy of support. The president is Mrs. H. G. Shaw, 
and the secretary Miss C. Harmon. 

The Boston Police Relief Association, organized in 1871, and incor- 
porated in 1876, has its office in the Charity Building. It has nearly 500 
members. It pays considerable sums to members for "sick-benefits," to 
families on the death of members, and to members on the death of their 
wives. The president is George F. Goold. 

The Boston North-End Mission, at No. 201 North Street, was organized 
in 1865. Its work is among the poor, holding religious meetings in the 
chapel, and providing a home for 40 poor children in the nursery depart- 
ment. It extends a helping hand to penitent women seeking a better life, 
and gives them shelter in the home department. It also provides for men 
without a home, by furnishing a good lunch or a comfortable lodging for 
five or ten cents. The industrial schools for women and girls help the poor 
to learn how to care for themselves. The reading-room, open from 8 a.m. 
to 9 P.M., makes an attractive resort for the many seamen and landsmen who 
throng North Street. The Mission also maintains a summer-home at Mount 
Hope, near Forest Hills, where, during the warm season, the children breathe 
the pure air of heaven. The stranger in Boston should not neglect to visit 
the Mission, and see an institution that appeals to every heart. The current 
expenses of the work are $10,000 a year, derived chiefly from small con- 
tributions of a generous pubHc. H. E. Abbott, 201 North Street, is secre- 
tary and treasurer, and Benjamin Luscomb is superintendent. 

The City Missionary Society is the oldest institution of its kind in the 
country, having been organized in 1816, and incorporated in 1820. It works 
not only to bring the non-church-golng classes under the influence of re- 
ligion by personal visits of its missionaries, gathering children and others 
into sabbath schools, neighborhood and chapel meetings, and the distribu- 
tion of religious reading, but seeks the physical welfare of the poor by pro- 
curing employment for them, providing homes for orphan and destitute 
children, and extending pecuniary aid. It now employs 25 male and female 
missionaries, who visit 15,000 families a year. The annual expenditures of 
the society amount to $30,000. It is supported by Congregationalists, but 
is unsectarian in its operations. The headquarters of the society are in the 
Congregational House, corner of Beacon and Somerset Streets. 

The Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children 
was incorporated in 1878. Its headquarters are at No. i Pemberton Square. 
It investigates cases of abuse against any person under 21 years of age, 
brings the perpetrators before the magistrates when necessary, and cares 
for neglected and deserted children. It maintains a temporary home at No. 
94 Chestnut Street. The president is Charles D. Head, and the general 
agent Frank B. Fay. 



LYING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON 223 



STfjc Pufee of tfje ffiitg. 

THE SANITARY CONDITION OF BOSTON, — HOSPITALS, DIS- 
PENSARIES, AND ASYLUMS. 

THE sanitary condition of Boston will bear favorable comparison with 
that of other cities. The annual death-rate, 21.91 in 1,000 in 1882, is 
slightly larger than that of London, but considerably smaller than the 
average in the other European cities. It also compares favorably with 
American cities, although those of St. Louis and some other Western cities 
show a lower rate. The statistics of Western cities are, however, more 
likely to err in accuracy ; and, besides, the mortality is always less in young 
and vigorous communities, though their sanitary conditions may be far more 
unfavorable. The sanitary affairs of Boston are under the control of its 
Board of Health established in 1873, under the pressure of a peremptory 
popular demand caused by the presence of a terrible small-pox scourge in 
the city. The Board has, in many respects, arbitrary powers in regard to 
the public health, and can take almost any measure that may be deemed 
expedient, in a case of emergency. The principal drawback to a satisfactory 
sanitary condition is the defective drainage; but this will be partially over- 
come by the great system of sewers now constructing, and referred to in the 
chapter on " The Arteries of the City." The streets are kept remarkably 
clean, being regularly swept nine months of the year. The principal streets, 
about 185 miles, are swept daily, and others twice a week. 

The hospitals and dispensaries of Boston are many ; but their work 
is done so quietly and so unostentatiously that few, even of those long 
resident in the city, are aware of their magnitude, or comprehend the extent, 
variety, and thoroughness of their operations. At their head stands — 

The Massachusetts General Hospital, a noble institution, one of the 
most complete and perfectly organized of its kind in the country. It is 
also the oldest, save one, — the Pennsylvania Hospital. It was incorporated 
in 181 1, and opened for the reception of patients in 1821. It was conceived 
by a number of the public-spirited and generous citizens of that day ; and 
its plan was drawn on a most liberal and extensive scale, showing them to 
be broad-minded and far-sighted men. A bequest of $5,000 at the close of 
the last century, in 1799, ^^as the practical beginning of the enterprise; but 
it was not until rSii that the work was undertaken systematically and vigor- 
ously. In that year 56 gentlemen were incorporated under the name of The 



224 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



Massachusetts General Hospital ; and the charter granted a fee-simple in 
the estate of the old Province House, on condition that |; 100,000 be raised by 
subscription within ten years, which was promptly met. The Massachusetts 
Hospital Life-insurance Company was required by its charter, in 1818, to 
pay one-third of its net profits to the hospital. So also were the New- 
England Mutual Life-insurance Company, incorporated in 1835; and the 
State Mutual Life-Assurance Company at Worcester, in 1844. Several other 
gifts were made it by private citizens, and the funds accumulated with grati- 
fying rapidity. Among the most generous bequests were those of John 
McLean, — one of $100,000, and another of $50,000 ; this latter to be divided 
between the hospital and Harvard University. For him is named the 




The Massachusetts General Hospital, Blossom Street. 



McLean Asylum for the Insane, in Somerville, which is a branch of the 
Massachusetts General Hospital, established by i-ts trustees in 181 6. His 
name was also given to the street at the foot of which the hospital stands. 
Prominent among the founders of the hospital was John Lowell, one of the 
esteemed Lowell family, several of whose members have done so much for 
Boston, and have been so prominent among its citizens. His father was 
Judge Lowell, a member of the convention which framed the State Consti- 
tution, and who caused to be inserted in the " Bill of Rights " the clause 
declaring that "all men are born free and equal." For one of his brothers 
the city of Lowell was named ; and another was the Rev. Charles Lowell of 
the West Church, father of James Russell Lowell, the poet of to-day, now 
rriinister to England. John Lowell acquired fame in his day as a political 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 225 

writer, and during the war of 181 2 wrote trenchant articles under the nom 
de pliune oi "The Boston Rebel," which were especially notable for the 
vigorous and bold fashion in which they attacked the national administra- 
tion. Besides being active in the movement to establish the Massachusetts 
General Hospital, John Lowell was also a founder of the Athenaeum, and 
the Hospital Life-Insurance Company. 

The hospital stands at the west end of McLean Street, on what was 
formerly Prince's pasture. The main building, first built, is of Chelmsford 
granite, hammered out and fitted for use by the convicts of the State 
Prison. When completed, it was pronounced the finest building in New 
England. Charles Bulfinch was the architect. In 1846 it was enlarged by 
the addition of two extensive wings. Other additions and improvements 
have from time to time been made ; the most recent in 1873-75, when four 
new pavilion wards were constructed, called respectively the Jackson, War- 
ren, Bigelow, and Townsend wards, in recognition of the valuable services 
of Drs. James Jackson, J. C. Warren, Jacob Bigelow, and S. D. Townsend. 
The hospital admits, under light conditions, patients suffering from disease 
or injuries, from any part of the United States or British Provinces; and 
provision is made for free treatment, or treatment at the cost to the patient 
of the expense involved. No infectious diseases are admitted, and chronic 
or incurable cases are generally refused. On proper call the hospital ambu- 
lance, with medical officer, is despatched at any hour to points within the 
city proper, north of Dover and Berkeley Streets ; and the hospital is always 
ready for any emergency, however sudden or extensive the demand on its 
resources may be. The hospital, ever since its establishment, has been 
steadily and greatly aided by gifts and bequests. The number of patients 
treated in the hospital is upwards of 2,000 a year. The number of out- 
patients applying for treatment during the same period is upwards of r 6,000. 
From 1821 to the close of 1884 the number of patients in the hospital has 
been 6'j,'jJ2>''> of these, 24,092 were discharged well, 15,615 much relieved^ 
or reheved in part, and 5,477 died. The whole number of out-patients 
treated during the same period was 292,491. About 80 per cent of the 
number treated in the hospital are occupants of free beds. The annual free- 
bed subscriptions for each year are about $10,000: and the free-bed fund, the 
income of which must be devoted to free beds, amounts to $550,000. Of the 
free patients during each year, about 16 per cent are female domestics, 24 per 
cent laborers, 16 per cent mechanics, and 9 per cent minors. The expense 
of the hospital department is about $125,000 a year. A training-school 
for nurses is also attached to this hospital. The Convalescent Cottage at 
Belmont was opened for patients in 1881, and accommodates about 250 
persons yearly, amid lovely rural surroundings. James H. Whittemore is 
the resident physician. 



2 26 ICING'S HANDBOOK- OF BOSTON. 

The Boston City Hospital was established in 1864, after many years ot 
agitation, which began in 1849, before the cholera, then epidemic in Boston, 
had disappeared. The necessary authority was given the city by the Legis- 
lature in 1858; two years later the land was appropriated; in 1861 the work 
of building was begun; and May 24, 1864, the buildings were dedicated, 
and a month later were formally opened for patients. The buildings front 
on Harrison Avenue, and occupy the square, containing nearly seven acres, 
bounded by Harrison Avenue and Concord, Albany, and Springfield Streets. 
The hospital buildings present a beautiful and unique appearance. When 
substantially completed and occupied in 1864, the hospital consisted of a 
central or administration building, two three-story medical and surgical 
pavilions, and the necessary auxiliary buildings, including boiler-house and 
laundry. To these were added, in 1865, a two-story building for isolating 
wards ; a small building, at the main entrance to the grounds, containing 
rooms for out-patients ; and an addition for dead-house, morgue, and autopsy- 
room. In 1874 a medical building, a surgical building, each three stories 
high with basements, two one-story surgical and medical pavilions, and a low 
building for kitchen, bakery, and other purposes, were erected. The total 
cost of the buildings alone was $610,000. The hospital has at present 385 
beds; and, when the plan is fully carried out, it will have 525 beds. 

Residents of the city suffering from sickness, unable to pay for treat- 
ment, are treated gratuitously. Persons accidentally injured are received at 
all hours, and the ambulances are ready for service on call. Out-patients 
are also treated. Once a week operations are performed in the amphi- 
theatre before physicians and surgeons. A training-school for nurses is 
also connected with the hospital, which affords unsurpassed opportunities 
for the education of trained nurses. There are 61 pupils, and Miss Linda 
Richards is superintendent of nurses. Since the opening of the City Hos- 
pital, 83,479 persons have been examined for admission, and 61,677 of them 
were admitted; 10,765 persons accidentally injured, and 173,194 out-patients 
have been treated. During the past year, there were treated 5,061 persons 
in the hospital, and 14,241 out-patients; visits to the hospital, 41,802. In 
1884 a Nurses' Home was erected here, and admirably equipped and arranged, 
at a cost of $45,000. The superintendent and resident physician is Dr. 
George H. M. Rowe. 

The Massachusetts Homoeopathic Hospital was incorporated in 1855, 
but was not established and opened for patients till 1S71. The first five 
years it occupied a house in Burroughs Place. Its friends having raised, by 
means of a grand fair, the sum of $76,000, land was purchased of the city, 
and the present beautiful structure was erected on East Concord Street. 
This building was opened to patients in May, 1876; and in thorough ventila- 
tion, delightful temperature summer and winter, bright and sunny wards and 
private rooms, together with all necessary conveniences and comforts, it has 
proved one of the most satisfactory hospitals ever built. It has received 



2 28 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

'^- 
and provided for upwards of 1,200 patients, with a mortality of about five 
per cent. The patients are provided with the best food and care; and yet 
its affairs have been managed with such economy that the cost has been 
much less than in similar hospitals. Severe and often hopeless cases have 
resorted here for treatment with great benefit. President, Charles R. 
Codman. 

The Carney Hospital, founded by the gift of $13,500 from Andrew Car- 
ney, was incorporated in 1865, and occupies a sightly position on Old Har- 
bor Street, South Boston. Its situation, in the judgment of experienced 
physicians, is the very best in New England. Standing on Dorchester 
Heights, near the intrenchment erected by Washington, it commands an 
extensive view over the city on one side, and Massachusetts Bay on the 
other. In summer the hospital is cooled by the sea-breezes ; and the con- 
valescents enjoy a beautiful prospect from their beds, watching meanwhile 
the vessels passing in and out of the harbor. The hospital was established 
to afford relief to the sick poor; and, though it is in charge of the Sisters 
of Charity, it receives patients of all religious denominations. Chronic, 
acute, and other cases are received, contagious diseases alone excepted. 
Pay-patients are also treated. The present brick building, erected in 1868, 
forms but a single wing of the projected structure; the central building 
and other wing being essential, and now greatly needed. Contributions 
are now being earnestly solicited. The yearly expenditure amounts to 
$30,000, and the income from paying patients about $13,000. In one of 
the wings there are very spacious accommodations for the treatment of out- 
patients suffering from general diseases, affections peculiar to women, and 
diseases of the eye. Over 1,000 out-patients are treated yearly, in all cases 
gratuitously. It is thought that in course of time the out-patient depart- 
ment will become one of the great centres of medical charity. The phy- 
sicians and surgeons in attendance at the hospital give their services 
gratuitously; and the Sisters of Charity connected with it are religiously 
devoted to the work, not only nursing the sick and performing domestic 
work, but in seeking out cases of distress and misfortune, and striving to 
relieve them. 

The New-England Hospital for Women and Children, incorporated in 
1863, is situated on Codman Avenue, Roxbury district. Its land and build- 
ings cost $100,000. It is an incorporated institution, of which Dr. Marie E. 
Zakrzewska may be considered the founder. More than 300 patients are 
treated at the hospital during the year; about half the number being ad- 
mitted on free beds, of which there are fourteen. It has medical, surgical, 
and maternity wards; and a dispensary at 29 Fayette Street in the city 
proper, where nearly 5,000 receive treatment annually. The training-school 
for nurses, in connection with this hospital, was the first in the city, founded 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



229 



in 1863. Applicants for admission must be between the ages of 22 and 35, 
and of sound health. Those admitted are supported by the hospital during 
the term of sixteen months, when diplomas of competency are bestowed 
upon those who successfully pass through it. The success of the school 
has been most satisfactory. 




f^^^^^^Mr^^Si 



Children's Hospital, Huntington Avenue, 



The Children's Hospital was incorporated in 1869, ^^^ fi^'st located at 
1583 Washington Street. Children between two and twelve, suffering from 
acute diseases, are received and treated, if poor, gratuitously; but, if their 
parents or guardians are able to pay, a moderate charge is made. The 
hospital has 60 beds. The nursing is under the direction of ladies con- 
nected with the Protestant-Episcopal Sisterhood of St. Margaret. A con- 
valescent Home was established at Wellesley, 14 miles from the city, in 
1875, Among the founders of the hospital were Chandler Robbins, George 
H. Kuhn, N. H. Emmons, Dr. Francis H. Brown, and Albert Fearing. 
Late in 1SS2 the new and beautiful building on Huntington Avenue was 
occupied. 

The House of the Good Samaritan, at 6 McLean Street, incorporated in 
i86o, is for tlic free treatment of sick women and girls, and of boys under 
six, especially these suffering from diseases of long duration. It is sup- 
ported by voluntr.n contributions and the income from its funds. The 



230 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON, 



annual expenses range from $10,000 to $12,000. It is unsectarian, but Epis- 
copal services are regularly held. The largest bequest it has received was 
from the late James H. Foster, who left by will $47,500. Among the corpo- 
rators was Miss Anne S. Robbins, who has given, from the start, her whole 
time to the hospital, residing in it, and superintending its details with the 
aid of a matron. The other corporators were Mrs. George C. Shattuck, 
Mrs. G. Rowland Shaw, Mrs. Charles H. Appleton, Mrs. N. Thayer, Horace 
Gray, and Henry P. Sturgis. 

•The Children's Sea-Shore Home, at Winthrop, is one of the most 
practical of works; and, since its estabhshment in 1875, it has accom- 
plished an unexpected and most gratifying amount of good. Its object 
is to give to poor children suffering from disease, and those recovering, 
the great advantage of the sea-breezes. A competent physician resides at 
the house ; and the nurses are most attentive, having a special interest in 
their work, most of them volunteering their services. 

The Consumptives' Home, a hospital for incurables, is at Grove Hall, 

Roxbury district, 
and was incorpo- 
lated in 1870, six 
)ears after it was 
founded by Dr. 
Charles Cullis, who 
IS still the manager. 
It relies wholly on 
voluntary contribu- 
tions. From this 
source over $500,- 
000 have been re- 
ceived since its 
establishment, and 
over 2,700 pa- 
tients cared for. 
The Home will ac- 
commodate 80 pa- 
tients. The prem- 

Consumptives' Home, Grove Hall. isCS COUtaiu, bc- 

sides the Home proper, two children's homes, a free chapel, and a home 
for those afflicted with spinal complaints. 

St. Mary's Infant Asylum, and Lying-in Hospital, in Dorchester, is 
managed by the Sisters of Charity, by whom the institution was founded, 
in 1870, for "the maintenance and support of foundlings, and orphan and 
half-orphan children." It also accommodates indigent deserving women 




KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON 231 

during confinement. As in the Carney Hospital, no distinction is made 
on account of religion ; and no patient is refused on account of her inabihty 
to pay the moderate rate asked. 

The Channing Home, at 30 McLean Street, is a most worthy institution, 
a home for incurables, established in May, 1857, by Miss Harriet Ryan, who 
afterwards became Mrs. Albee. It was incorporated in 1861. The class of 
patients generally admitted are those who need constant medical assistance 
and tender care ; and no pay is taken from any. Since it was established, 26 
years ago, the Home has received over 600 patients. It has now 14 inmates. 
The president is Dr. Samuel A. Green ; the treasurer, Theo. Metcalf. 

The Boston Lying-in Hospital was organized in 1832, for the relief of 
poor and deserving women during confinement. In its present quarters, at 
Nos. 22 and 24 McLean Street, it has accommodations for 36 patients. 
Free cases are taken. Patients taken in prior to confinement are charged 
$3.50 a week for board, and are expected to perform any light duty required 
of them. The lowest price for confinement is $20, which also pays for two 
weeks next succeeding confinement ; and, as a rule, no case is kept longer 
than two weeks after confinement. 

The Hospital of the Public Institutions is located on Deer Island, and 
has a branch at Rainsford Island. Patients are received from the city 
almshouse, the House of Industry, and the House of Reformation for 
Juvenile Offenders. 

The Boston Lunatic Hospital, on First Street, South Boston, is a city 
institution, under the management of the Board of Directors for Public 
Institutions. The main building was built in 1839; "^"^^ ^^e two wings were 
added in 1846. New wings and other improvements have recently been 
added, including steam-heat and good ventilating apparatus. With the 
yards and gardens, the buildings occupy five acres. The hospital has a 
capacity for 200 patients. Its use is now restricted to those who have a 
settlement, so termed, in the city. The poor are admitted without charge. 
Patients are committed to the hospital by the judge of probate for Suffolk 
County, on application at the office of the Board of Directors, at 30 Pember- 
ton Square. Not one-fourth of the Boston insane people can be accommo- 
dated here. Dr. Theodore W. Fisher is superintendent. 

Diet Kitchens, established in different parts of the city, furnish prompt 
and temporary relief for the sick poor. Plain, nourishing food is here pre- 
pared, and given out daily, at all hours, on the orders of the dispensary and 
other physicians. 

The Boston Dispensary, founded in 1796 and incorporated in 1801, is the 
oldest institution of the kind in the city, and the third in the country. The 
central office is situated at Bennet and Ash Streets, near the centre of pop- 
ulation of the city proper, over which its operations are extended. • Physi- 



232 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



ciaHS are in attendance daily, at stated hours, who treat men, women, and 
children, perform surgical operations, and dispense medicines. The dispens- 
ary is supported by funds heretofore contributed, and by private charity. 
Since 1856, over 600,000 patients have been treated at the central office and 
in the districts. About 35,000 patients are treated yearly. That in the 
Charlestown district was organized in 1872, and is located at No. 27 Harvard 
Square. The Roxbury dispensary was founded in 1841, but has since been 




Boston Dispensary, Bennet and Ash Streets. 

merged in the Roxbury Charitable Society, founded in 1794, and its duties 
discharged by the latter society, whose office is at No. 118 Roxbury Street, 
Roxbury district. 

The Homceopathic Medical Dispensary in 1856, its first year of incor- 
poration, treated 195 patients. Its work has steadily augmented year by 
year, and in 1882 it furnished upwards of 30,545 prescriptions to 11,382 
patients. The central office, at 14 Burroughs Place, is open daily from 10 to 
12. The college branch occupies the basement of the building of the Boston 
University School of Medicine in East Concord Street, and is divided into 
the following departments : medical, surgical, dental, eye and ear^ women's, 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



^2>2, 



children's, chest, throat, and skin. There are connected with this branch 24 
physicians. With the aid of the college faculty, clinical instruction in the 
various departments is furnished to the medical students. The West-End 
branch, in the Charity Building, Chardon Street, is open daily from 10 to 
12, and, in addition to the general department, has also one under the care 
of women physicians, for the diseases of their sex. The whole dispensary is 
supported mainly by a fund raised by a fair held in 1859 in the Music Hall, 
which netted $13,000, the income of which has provided treatment for 80,000 
sick persons. The large number who now flock to it will render additional 
funds necessary. 

The Dispensary for Diseases of Women, at 18 Staniford Street, was 
organized in 1873, ^i^d is made available for the purposes of clinical instruc- 
tion. It is in charge of Dr. James R. Chadwick and Dr. John W. Farlow. 

The Dispensary for Diseases of Children, at the same place and for the 
same purposes, is in charge of Dr. Charles P. Putnam. 

The Massachusetts Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary was originated in 
1824 by Drs. Edward Reynolds and John Jeffries, and was incorporated in 




■f_a'sA.Sft,A,s^ 



Massachusetts Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary. 

1826. During the first year, there were treated at the Infirmary 69S pa- 
tients ; and the number has steadily increased, compelling the institution to 



2 34 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

be removed from place to place, until 1850, when the present building, on 
Charles near Cambridge Street, was erected. The building is of brick, and 
has two wings. The main building measures 67 by 44 feet. In the base- 
ment are kitchens, wash-rooms, laundry, etc. ; in the first story are receiv- 
ing and reading rooms ; in the wings are the male wards, with operating, 
apothecary, and bath rooms ; in the second story are accommodations for 
the matron and the female wards. The building is surrounded by a yard, 
and is shut out from the street^by a high wall. The work is rapidly out- 
growing the accommodations. In 1880 no less than 10,000 patients were 
treated. The annual increase for the past few years has been about 800. 
The name of the institution has been a hinderance to its growth, leading the 
community to believe it to be a State charity, and thereby averting dona- 
tions that would probably come to it, and which are really needed to carry 
on its great work. Patients from all parts of this continent are treated at 
this Infirmary, which is one of the most important, but at the same time 
one of the most poorly-supported, charities in the State. Dr. George Sted- 
man is the superintendent. 

The Free Hospital for Women, at 60 East Springfield Street, estab- 
lished in 1875, for poor and worthy women who suffer from diseases 
peculiar to their sex, is supported by contributions from individuals and 
religious societies. Any individual or society supporting a bed has the 
right to fill it with any suffering and needy woman, provided the medical 
staff pronounce her case a proper one for treatment here. The hospital 
contains 20 beds. 

St. Luke's Home, established in October, 1870, and incorporated Janu- 
ary, 1872, provides gratuitous medical treatment to women who are con- 
valescent from disease. The Home, which is situated on Roxbury Street, 
Highland district, can accommodate 40 patients. 

St. Joseph's Home, Nos. 41, 43, and 45, East Brookline Street, is in 
charge of the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis. It was established 
in 1862, and incorporated in 1867. In one building, 32 orphans are sup- 
ported and educated; and in the other two are homes for destitute people, 
who cannot labor, of whom from 80 to 100 are kept here, free of charge. 
Food is also supplied here to sixty indigent families. 

St. Elizabeth's Hospital, l"^ Waltham Street, is in charge of the Sisters 
of St. Francis. It was established in 1867, and incorporated in 1872, for 
medical and surgical treatment of diseases peculiar to women. Most of the 
patients are free, and the sick poor of any denomination are admitted. 

The Massachusetts Medical Society was formed in 1781. It includes 
17 distinct societies, which together have a membership of over 1,400 physi- 
cians practising in Massachusetts. The by-laws provide that a member 
(man or woman) must possess the following among other qualifications : — • 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 235 

" That he is not less than twenty-one years of age ; that he is of sound 
mind and good moral character ; that he has a good general English educa- 
tion ; that he has a knowledge of the principles of experimental philosophy, 
that he has such an acquaintance with the Latin language as is necessary 
for a good medical and surgical education ; that he has studied medicine 
and surgery three full years under the direction, and attended the practice, 
of some reputable, regularly educated physician or physicians ; that he has 
attended two terms of study, or two full courses of lectures in separate 
years, at an authorized medical school, recognized by the councillors of said 
society, and possesses a diploma or its equivalent from such school that he 
does not profess to cure diseases by, nor intend to practise, spirituahsm, 
homoeopathy, allopathy, Thomsonianism, eclecticism, or any other irregu- 
lar or exclusive system, generally recognized as such by the profession or 
declared so by the councillors of said society ; and by a further examina- 
tion, a part of which shall be in writing, that he has an adequate knowledge 
of anatomy, pathological anatomy, physiology, general and medical chemis- 
try, materia medica, therapeutics, midwifery, the theory and practice of 
medicine, clinical medicine, surgery, clinical surgery, hygiene, and pubHc 
hygiene." 

The Old Morgue was placed in charge of the board of health in 1873, 
and in 1879 was thoroughly remodelled. The superintendent is present in 
the afternoon, when bodies are there for identification. The morgue proper 
is a small room, with a single stone in its centre for the exhibition of bodies 
for recognition. Adjoining it is an autopsy-room. Keys are placed at the 
engine-house adjoining, and at the city undertaker's, where they can be 
sought in case of emergency. 

The New Morgue is connected with the City Hospital, and is of a 
modern style, and fitted-up somewhat like the Paris morgue. Four bodies 
cau be exposed for recognition at a time. 

The Medical Examiner is an office that was substituted for that of 
coroner, which was abolished in 1877 by act of the legislature. In the 
place of forty or fifty commissioned officers, some of whom were of ques- 
tionable integrity, and not properly qualified, the work of making special 
investigations of the causes of sudden or mysterious deaths, when such are 
deemed necessary, is performed by two men, physicians in good standing, 
called medical examiners. These are commissioned by the governor, serve 
for seven years, and receive $3,000 a year as salary. The present medical 
examiners for Suffolk County are Francis A. Harris and Frank W. Draper. 
Whenever they deem a formal inquest necessary in any case, it is brought 
before the local courts. By this change a large saving is made to the 
county treasuries, there is less liability of abuse, and a more satisfactory result 
is obtained. 



236 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

The School of Veterinary Medicine of Harvard University is a flour- 
ishing and interesting institution of recent foundation, with 14 professors 
and instructors, and 2.1 students. _ The main studies are anatomy, physi- 
ology, chemistry, botany, therapeutics, and the theory and practice of equine, 
bovine, and canine medicine, with various branches of surgery, obstetrics, 
ophthalmology, etc., as related to domestic animals. The hospital, at the 
corner of Village and Lucas Streets, at the South End, is a substantial 
three-story brick building, with architectural adornments in keeping with its 
design, and containing, in the basement, a shoeing forge ; on the first floor, 
offices, operating-room, five box-stalls (one of them padded), and six stalls ; 
on the: second floor, grooms' room, pharmacy, twelve stalls, and twenty dog- 
kennels ; on the third floor, work-rooms, etc. Contiguous to the hospital is 
the building of the Veterinary School, with stalls on the lower floor, and the 
lecture-room on the second floor. On the third floor is the dissecting-room, 
two stories high, with asphalt floor, and heavily painted brick walls. The 
library, reading-room, and museum are also interesting. There are also 
buildings and pastures at the Bussey Farm, pertaining to the school. The 
secretary is Charles P. Lyman, F.R.C.V.S. 

There are a great variety of other hospitals in Boston, both those of 
a charitable character, and others. Close by is the imposing and isolated 
building of the United-States Marine Hospital, on the heights of Chelsea, 
and looking down on the Mystic River and the harbor. On the opposite 
side of the city, on Jones's Hill, Dorchester, rises the great new building 
of St. Mary's Lying-in Hospital, overlooking Boston and its thronging 
suburbs and the island-strewn harbor and the open sea beyond, as in a 
bird's-eye view. At Grove Hall, near the corner of Blue-hill Avenue and 
Warren Street, in an eligible and fortunate situation, is the Spinal Home, 
where homoeopathic treatment is administered to victims of spinal troubles. 

The latest development in the art of healing, as practised in Boston, is 
the " mind cure," a system of treatment by mental influence and will-power, 
by which it is claimed that many wonderful cures have been effected. This 
new method of healing has many practitioners and a great body of adherents, 
and a large number of books have been published to define and illustrate its 
various novel phases. The Massachusetts Metaphysical College, on Colum- 
bus Avenue, has borne a prominent part in the defence and development of 
the " mind cure." Some of the exponents of the new system have taken 
the title of " Christian Scientists," in allusion to the important and perhaps 
supreme influence which the attribute of faith exercises in their operations ; 
but the clergymen of the city have not all looked with equal favor on this 
startling innovation. The movement is as yet in the early stages of its 
development, and may be destined to exert a powerful influence on the future 
life of Boston. 






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238 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

The Boston Medical Association, organized in 1806, holds its meetings 
annually, on the first Monday in May. Its objects are to regulate the charges 
of physicians, and to aid in promoting the interests of the medical profession. 
Its secretary is Dr. V. Y. Bowditch, 113 Boylston Street. 

The Boylston Medical Society of Harvard University was founded in 
181 1, and incorporated in 1823, for the purpose of promoting emulation and 
inquiry among the students at the Medical School. The president is always 
a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society. Ward Nicholas Boylston, 
the founder of this society, left it a fund from which prizes are given to 
those members of the society whose medical dissertations are most ap- 
proved. The president is Dr. V. Y. Bowditch, and the secretary is J. W. 
Perkins. 

The Boston Society for Medical Improvement was organized in 1828, 
and incorporated in 1839, ^o^" the cultivation of confidence and good feeling 
between members of the profession, the eliciting and imparting of informa- 
tion upon the different branches of medical science, and the establishment 
of a museum and library of pathological anatomy. The secretary is Dr. 
E. M. Buckingham. 

The Boston Society for Medical Observation was organized in 1846, to 
make its members good observers of disease, to collect and arrange accu- 
rately recorded facts in furtherance of the cause of medical science, and to 
publish from time to time the results of the examination of such facts. 
The original society in 1835 was composed chiefly of students, and was 
founded on the plan of a Paris association. Dr. C. H. Williams is the 
secretary. 

The Massachusetts Homoeopathic Medical Society was organized in 
1840, and incorporated in 1856, and is the oldest society of this school in 
the country. It has 200 active members; holds its annual meeting on the 
second Wednesday of April, and its semi-annual meeting in October. Its 
meetings are earnest and interesting, and are attended by many physicians 
who are not of the homoeopathic faith. It publishes each year a volume of 
transactions. Its officers are: C. L. Nichols, M.D., of Worcester, presi- 
dent; N. W. Emerson, M.D., of Dorchester, secretary; H. C. Oapp, M.D., 
of Boston, treasurer. 

The Boston Homoeopathic Medical Society holds its meetings in the 
Medical College, East Concord Street, on the second Thursday of each 
montli. It has 100 members. F. B. Perry, M.D., is secretary. 

The Massachusetts College of Pharmacy was incorporated in 1852. Its 
main objects are to regulate the instruction of apprentices, to diffuse infor- 
mation among the members of the profession, and to discountenance the 
sale of spurious, aduhcrated, and inferior articles. Applicants for admission 
to its membership must have l)ccn actively engaged in the wholesale or retail 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 239 

drug business. There is a School of Pharmacy, under the control of the 
college, before which lectures are delivered during the winter season ; and 
the degree of graduates in pharmacy is conferred upon students who go 
through the whole course, and satisfactorily pass the examination. The 
college, for its lecture-room and laboratory, occupies the third story of the 
Old Franklin Schoolhouse, 1151 Washington Street; the rooms being 
granted free of rent by the city of Boston. There are about 200 members 
of the college, and 100 students attending the school. The laboratory is 
one of the largest and most thoroughly equipped in the city. There is also 
a complete collection of crude and rare drugs and of the finest specimens of 
chemicals. The library contains about 2,500 bound volumes and 1,500 pam- 
phlets of works on pharmacy, and comprises a very valuable collection of 
its kind. It forms the second largest pharmaceutical library in the United 
States. The president is Henry Canning, and the corresponding secretary 
is Charles C. Williams, Ph.D. 

The Boston Druggists* Association has a membership of about 'j^^ in- 
cluding persons engaged in the wholesale or retail drug-trade, paint and oil 
firms, medicine houses, and co-ordinate branches of the trade, in Boston and 
vicinity. Its object is the furtherance of the interests of those lines of 
business, and to afford the men engaged in them an opportunity of meeting 
with one another on social terms "around the festive mahogany." The 
monthly dinners are held at the Parker House. The society was organized 
in 1875; and its officers are: president, Joel S. Orne, of Cambridgeport ; 
secretary, Henry Canning, of Boston. 

Our limited space forbids the further sketching of the several medical 
societies of Boston. Among those not heretofore mentioned are the Ob- 
stetrical Society, organized in i860; Boston Society of Medical Sciences, 
1869; South-Boston Medical Club, 1873; Association of Life-insurance 
Examiners, 1873; Boston Microscopical Society, 1874; Roxbury Society 
for Medical Improvement, 1867; Dorchester Medical Club, 1866; Walker 
Society for Medical Improvement, 1872. 

The Washingtonian Home was organized in 1857, and incorporated in 
March, 1859, for the cure of men addicted to intemperance. Its present 
location is in building No. 41 Waltham Street; and its income is entirely 
derived from board and treatment of the inmates. Since the beginning it 
has received about 8,000 inmates, many of whom have been free patients. 
For a time the State aided it. Dr. Albert Day is the superintendent. 

The Adams Nervine Asylum was incorporated in 1877, and opened in 
1880. Its projector was the late Seth Adams, a wealthy Boston sugar-refiner, 
resident in Newton, who bequeathed for its establishment property valued 
at the magnificent sum of $600,000. It is a curative institution, for the 
benefit of indigent, debilitated, nervous people, inhabitants of the State, 



240 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



who are not insane. Its beautiful site is in the Jamaica-Plain district, and 
comprises 24 acres (the estate of the late J. Gardner Weld), on Centre 
Street, adjoining the property of the Bussey Institution. The building 
accommodates 30 patients. The incorporators were John N. Barbour, 




The Adams Nervine Asylum. 



James C. Davis, Aquila Adams, Emory Washburn, Alpheus Hardy, Samuel 
Eliot, Charles H. Dalton, James B. Thayer, William Claflin, John E. Tyler, 
Amor L. Hollingsworth, James Longley, Samuel A. Green, Robert Willard, 
Caleb W. Loring, Samuel D. Warren, Rufus Ellis, Joseph Burnett, S. B. 
Stebbins, Charles F. Choate. 



KING'S HAAWBOOK OF BOSTON-. 241 



Efje Boneg of t{}e (fttg. 

THE OLD BURIAL PLACES AND TOMBS, AND THE NEW 
CEMETERIES. 

THE cemeteries in the city proper are ancient burial-places, which are 
not used nowadays, the city having forbidden by ordinance all burials 
in graves in the city proper, interment in tombs only being allowed; but 
they are maintained and respected for the hallowed dust they contain, and 
for their historic associations. Now and then utilitarians agitate their 
removal for some public " improvement ; " but the influence of the conserva- 
tive Bostonian, jealous of his city's good name and reputation, is promptly 
brought to bear, and thus the dead are respected, and the ancient grave- 
yards, the most interesting of the old landmarks, are saved from the hand 
of desecration. 

The King's Chapel Burying--Ground is believed to be the oldest in the 
city, though the exact date of its establishment is not known. Situated in a 
busy part of the town, and crowded into narrow compass, under the shadow 
of the quaint old church, it is a most interesting spot, as it contains the 
remains of Gov. John Winthrop, his son and grandson who were governors 
of Connecticut ; Gov. Shirley ; Lady Andros, the wife of Gov. Andros ; John 
Cotton ; John Davenport, the founder of New Haven, Conn. ; John Oxen- 
bridge ; Thomas Bridge ; and other well-known personages of the olden 
time. Burials ceased here, as a rule, in 1796. Unfortunately the grave- 
stones were moved from their original places some years ago by a city offi- 
cer possessed of the mania for " improvement," and placed in rows, so that 
it is now impossible to tell the location of any given grave. At one time 
during the last century a great deal of excitement was occasioned by a 
rumor that some one had been buried alive in this burial-ground: but the 
affair terminated peacefully when the doctors who had attended the deceased 
testified in the matter. 

The Old Granary Burying-Ground, between the Park-street Church and 
the Tremont House, dates from 1660, and contains the graves of many 
famous men, including eight governors of the early day, — Bellingham, 
Dummer, Hancock, Adams, Bowdoin, Sullivan, Eustis, and Sumner ; the 
Wendells, Lydes, Checkleys, and Byfields ; Peter Faneuil, Dr. John Jeffries, 
Uriah Cotting, Judge Samuel Sewall, John Hull, Paul Revere ; Thomas 
Gushing, at one time a member of the council which was the executive of 



242 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



Massachusetts, and at another lieutenant-governor ; the Rev. Drs. Eckley, 
Belknap, Stillman, Lathrop, and Baldwin ; the parents of Benjamin Frank- 
lin ; and the victims of the Boston Massacre. Wendell Phillips's grave is 
close to the gate, on the right. The old town granary, which formerly stood 
where the Park-street Church now stands, gave to the cemetery its name. 

It is protected by 
a substantial iron 
fence, with an im- 
posing gateway in 
its centre ; and on 
the sidewalk in 
front of it stood, 
until a few years 
ago, a row of no- 
ble trees, known 
as the Paddock 
elms, which were 
imported from 
England, and set 
out in 1762 by 
Capt. Adino Pad- 
dock, a wealthy 
carriage - builder, 
and a leading loy- 
alist during the 
revolutionary 

Gateway to the Granary Burying-Ground, Tremont Street strU'^ole who left 

the city with the British when it was evacuated in 1776.- These trees were 
removed, to the great grief and indignation of many old citizens, to meet 
a demand of the street-railways. Inside the enclosure, however, are many 
fine trees; and, though they do not shade the busy throngs which hurry 
by, they contribute much to the picturesque appearance of the old burying- 
ground with its winding narrow paths, and its old graves and sombre tombs. 

The Central Burying-Ground, originally called the South Burying- 
Ground, is the only other cemetery in this section of the city. It is a small 
one on the Common, near Boylston Street. It was established in 1756. The 
British soldiers who died of disease during the occupation of the city, and 
those who died of wounds received at Bunker Hill, were buried here. The 
grave of M. Julien the restaurateur, whose name has been given to a kind of 
soup which he made, is also here. 

The Copp's-Hill Burying-Ground, three acres in dimensions, at the 
North End, near the old Christ Church, was the second burial-place estab- 




A'ING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



243 




The Mather Tomb, Copp's Hill. 



lished in Boston, and was first used for interments in 1660. It was originally 

called the North Burying-Place. The oldest gravestone bears the date of 

1625. There are many quaint epitaphs, some of which are illegible from 

age. Among the illustrious dead who were 

buried in this ground are Edmund Hartt, 

builder of the frigate " Constitution," the 

Rev. Drs. Increase, Cotton, and Samuel 

Mather, Andrew and John Ehot. A willow 

standing in the north-east corner of the 

grounds was brought from Napoleon's grave 

at St. Helena. In the Revolutionary times 

the British soldiers occupied Copp's Hill as 

a military station : it is told that they found 

sport in firing bullets at the gravestones, the marks of which can still be 

seen on some of them. When the hill was cut down, the burying-ground 

was left untouched, and its embankment is now protected by a high stone 

wall. It is an attractive spot, in a part of the city, which, once quite 

aristocratic, now possesses little attraction. From its high grounds a fine 

and extensive view can be had. 

The Old Charlestown Burial-Ground, on Phipps Street, Charlestown, 
is spoken of in the records for the first time in 1648. The earliest grave- 
stone is that of Maud, the wife of William Russell, bearing the date of 
1642. The tombstones in this graveyard are about the only antiquities in 
Charlestown, almost every building in the place having been burned by the 
British at the battle of Bunker Hill. Thomas Beecher, one of the original 
settlers, ancestor of the famous Beecher family, and John Harvard, the 
founder of Harvard College, are buried here. 

Forest-Hills Cemetery is a beautiful burial-ground in the West-Roxbury 
district, about 5 miles from the centre of the city. It includes about 225 
acres, and is finely laid out, on high ground. Miles of winding avenues and 
foot-paths lead over hills and through little valleys and glades. To the excep- 
tional natural beauties of the place are added the artistic effects produced 
by landscape-gardening. In the summer a profusion of flowers and shrubs 
is seen on every hand. There are pretty little lakes, handsome rural groves, 
and on the heights one catches glimpses of beautiful distant scenery. The 
main entrance is from Morton Street, through an ornamental stone gate- 
way, on the outer face of which is the inscription, " I am the Resurrection 
and the Life." On the inner face are the words, "He that keepeth thee 
will not slumber." There are other entrances on the south and east, from 
Canterbury and Walk-Hill Streets. From the main entrance, three carriage- 
drives diverge towards different parts of the grounds. The old wooden 
observatory has been replaced by a stone observatory and bell-tower, on 



244 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON 

Snowflake Cliff, overlooking a very charming suburban prospect. Four 
eminences farther south are named Eliot Hills, after the Indian apostle 
John Eliot, to whom a monument will be erected here. On Warren Hill is 
the tomb of Gen. Joseph Warren, the lamented hero of Bunker Hill. On 
Dearborn Hill is a monument to Gen. H. A. S. Dearborn, who originally 
laid out the grounds. Near Lake Hibiscus and at the foot of Dearborn 
Hill is the Grotto, or Rockery, with natural springs, fountains, and rare 
tropical plants. In Lake Dell is a picturesque sheet of water, overshadowed 
by Snowflake Cliff, named after the flowers that grow at its foot. " Lake 
Hibiscus " is the largest pond. Near Lake Dell is a fine receiving-tomb of 
granite. Among the most interesting monuments is a block of rough granite 
from the Kearsarge Mountain, which marks the resting-place of Admiral 
Winslow. There is also a fine bronze statue in- the soldiers' lot, erected by 
the city of Roxbury, in memory of her citizen soldiers who fell in the war, 
and which is noticed in another place. This cemetery was established by 
the city of Roxbury before its annexation, and was consecrated in 1848. 

Mount-Hope Cemetery is near Forest Hills, in the West-Roxbury dis- 
trict, and now belongs to the city. It is managed by a board of commis- 
sioners. The grounds include 106^ acres picturesquely laid out, with 
several ponds and many fine trees and shrubs. The main entrance is 
through a massive gateway of granite and iron. The city of Boston has 
erected a soldiers' monument here ; and Charles Russell Lowell Post 7 of 
the Grand Army of the Republic has a military memorial composed of 
heavy cannon given by the National Government. It is a simple but taste- 
ful monument. On a triangular stone base stand three cannon, forming the 
outline of a pyramid, their mouths meeting at a common point, and sup- 
porting a fourth; and beneath is a pyramid of cannon-balls. 

St. Augustine Cemetery situated in South Boston, and established in 
18 1 8, is the oldest Catholic burying-ground in Boston. It has a small 
chapel, which is now little used. Here is buried the Rev. Francis Antony 
Matignon, a French priest, one of the earliest Catholic clergymen in Bos- 
ton. His funeral, on the 21st of September, 181 8, was a notable event. The 
body was escorted through the streets by a number of acolytes, bearing 
lighted candles, and was temporarily placed in the Granary Burying-Ground : 
it was removed to South Boston in the following spring. Here is also 
buried Dr. Thomas J. O'Flaherty, who died in 1839, '^'^^ ^^as somewhat 
famous for a great theological controversy with Dr. Lyman Beecher. There 
is also a Catholic burying-ground in Charlestown, close to the Church of 
St. Francis de Sales, on the summit of Bunker Hill ; and another in the- 
Roxbury district, adjoining St. Joseph's Church, on Circuit Street, near For- 
f^st Hills. There are also two large cemeteries, — one in Dorchester, and 
the other, Calvary, adjoining Mount-Hope Cemetery, — belonging to the 



246 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

Boston Catholic Cemetery Association, which was first incorporated in 
1857 as the Catholic Cemetery Association in Dorchester, its name having 
been changed to the present in 1877. The Dorchester Cemetery is now 
full, containing 25,000 persons buried within its limits. In Calvary, 18,000 
persons are buried. The association subsequently bought the Home Farm 
in the West-Roxbury district, close to the Brookline and Newton lines : 
this was laid out in an artistic style by a professional landscape-gardener, 
and dedicated in the spring of 1879 "^^ ^^^^ Mount-Benedict Cemetery. 
The office of the association is at No. 2382 Washington Street, Roxbury 
district. 

There is a small Israelitish cemetery in East Boston, at the corner of 
Byron and Homer Streets. It was established by the society of Ohabei 
Shalom, and is but 100 feet square. A peculiar appearance is given to 
the place by all the tombstones bearing Hebrew inscriptions, though some 
of them are also partly in English. 

Among other cemeteries is the ancient, almost forgotten, and quite neg- 
lected, Roxbury burying-ground, at the • corner of Washington and Eustis 
Streets, nearly opposite the Hotel Comfort. The famous Indian apostle, 
John Eliot, is buried here, as well as many other men prominent in the by- 
gone days of Roxbury. There was formerly a Friends' burying-ground on 
Congress Street ; but it was discontinued in the early part of this century, 
and the bodies removed to Lynn. It is not generally known that under 
King's Chapel, Christ Church, and St. Paul's Church, there are yet tombs. 
Those which had long been under Park-street Church were discontinued, 
and the bodies removed to Mount Auburn, in 1862 ; and the society of St. 
Paul's Church petitioned in the fall of 1878 for leave to discontinue further 
interment in its tombs. In South Boston there were tombs under St 
Matthew's Church, which were discontinued in 1867. The principal place 
of burial for the northerly sections of the city, including East Boston and 
Charlestown, is Woodlawn Cemetery in Everett. 

Mount Auburn, the famous cemetery in Cambridge and Watertown, is 
outside of the city limits, but directly associated with Boston. This is the 
oldest garden cemetery in the United States, and was established in 1831, 
by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, in connection with an experi- 
mental garden. The idea of the cemetery originated with Dr. Jacob Bige- 
low, who was corresponding secretary of the Horticultural Society, and who 
had for many years realized the evils arising from burials under churches, or 
within crowded cities or towns. In 1835 when a charter was granted to " The 
Proprietors of the Cemetery of Mount Auburn," the Hordcultural So- 
ciety, upon condition of receiving one-fourth of all sales, transferred the, 
title to that corporation. The cemetery comprises about 135 acres. Its 
principal elevation, surmounted by a tower, is 125 feet above the level of 
the Charles River, which winds at its foot. Many of the most eminent 
dead of New Enjiland arc buried here. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON 247 



Eljc Social Sitie of tl}e ditg. 

THE PLAYHOUSES, PUBLIC HALLS, CLUBS, SECRET AND 
OTHER SOCIETIES. 

THERE was a time when Boston, in respect to the drama, was the first 
city in America. Although that distinction cannot be claimed now, 
there is still ground for pride in the high position occupied by the playhouses 
of the city ; and it is safe to say that in no other city in the United States do 
real merit and worth in stage-matters meet with more generous approbation 
or reward. Of the drama in its infancy here, Shaw's " Description of Bos- 
ton " (181 7) gives the following interesting sketch: "1794, — the first regu- 
lar theatre was established in Federal Street, under the management of 
Charles Stuart Powell. In consequence of a misunderstanding between 
him and the proprietor, Col. Tyler was appointed to the management; but, 
not succeeding, he relinquished, and was succeeded by John Brown Wil- 
liamson. In the mean time the friends of Mr. C. S. Powell raised a sum 
sufficient to build of wood the Haymarket Theatre, one of the most spacious 
and convenient theatres ever erected in America." This house was opened 
in 1796. Mr. Williamson having failed, in 1797, as manager of the Federal- 
street Theatre, it was taken by Barrett & Harper. During the season this 
theatre was burned. It was rebuilt, and opened in 1798 under the manage- 
ment of Mr. Hodgkin, who in 1799 failed, and removed his company to the 
Haymarket. G. L. Barrett then succeeded him, and failed before the year 
was out. In 1800 Mr. Whitlock sunk ^4,000 there. In 1801 Powell & 
Harper took the theatre. The latter retired the next year ; and Mr. Powell 
ran the concern till 1806, when he took in some partners. Powell & Duff 
were joint managers in 1817. "The first building erected purposely for 
theatrical entertainments in Boston was opened the 3d of February, 1794, 
with the tragedy of ' Gustavus Vasa Erickson, the Deliverer of Sweden.' 
The selection of the play was judicious, as it suited the temper of the 
times." Of the present theatres, and most conspicuous public halls, brief 
sketches will be given. 

The Boston Theatre was built by a corporation, and was first opened to 
the public Sept. 11, 1854, under the management of Thomas Barry. It is 
the largest theatre in New England, and there are but few edifices in the 
world devoted to the drama that can be compared with it. Under control 
of a corporation it did not achieve financial success. In 1863 Orlando 



248 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

Tompkins, a stockholder and director, secured a controlling interest in its 
destinies ; and its history since then is a record of triumphs. All the emi- 
nent artists known to the dramatic and lyric world have added to their honors 
by their efforts on its stage. Tompkins & Hill are proprietors, and Eugene 
Tompkins is manager. The front exterior of the building is not imposing, 
but the interior is palatial. The lobbies, grand stairway, salons, and retir- 
ing rooms are immense and elegant. The auditorium, which seats 3,000 
people, is not surpassed in the world ; at least, such is the assurance of 
those who have had opportunities for comparing it with the famous opera- 
houses of Europe, and whose estimates are worthy of acceptance. The 
stage is supplied with every appliance which can aid to give beauty, effect, 
and realism to scenes. An excellent stock-company is employed. There 
is a wide front entrance on Washington Street, and a rear one on Mason 
Street: the means of egress are so ample and perfect that 1,000 people can 
be dismissed in a minute. The prices of tickets range from $1.50 to 25 cents. 
General admission is 50 cents. The treasurer is John M. Ward, the musi- 
cal director N. Lothian, and the business agent H. A. M'Glenen. 

The Globe Theatre is a short distance" above the Boston Theatre, on the 
opposite side of Washington Street, and has entrances on that thorough- 
fare, Essex Street, and Hayward Place. It is the second " Globe Theatre" 
on this site. The first, originally named Selwyn's Theatre, was built in 1867, 
and in f873 was destroyed by fire. The present building was erected in 
1874. John H. Selwyn, Charles Fechter, and W. R. Floyd were successively 
its managers. The theatre was the enterprise of Dexter H. Follett and 
Arthur Cheney. After the retirement of Mr. Follett, Mr. Cheney continued 
as sole proprietor. In the rebuilt theatre 150 seats were held by gentlemen, 
each one having paid $1,000 for his seat; and to this extent they were stock- 
holders. Mr. Cheney died in November, 1878. He was succeeded in the 
management by John Stetson, once a proprietor and manager of the Howard 
Athenaeum. For a brief season Mr. Stetson conducted the theatre in con- 
junction with Mr. Cheney, and thereafter, for another season, alone. Then 
the theatre was closed until the autumn of 1879, when the lessees of the 
estate took possession of the property. On the ist of January following, 
Mr. Stetson obtained from all the lessees, with the exception of Asa P. 
Morse, leases of the theatre for six months ; and in October, 1880, he suc- 
ceeded in obtaining a satisfactory lease for ten years. He greatly altered 
and improved the theatre, adding to its attractiveness, and so adorned and 
beautified it as to make it one of the most inviting, convenient, and com- 
fortable theatres. Its interior is rich and brilliant, and thoroughly stocked 
with theatrical paraphernalia. Its stage is one of the best in the country. 
The auditorium is 60 feet in height. There are two large balconies, a row 
of mezzanine boxes, and elegant proscenium boxes. A handsome curtain 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 249 

is used ; and the scenery is fine and abundant, no theatre being better 
equipped. I'he season of 1875-76 is remembered with pleasure by tliose 
who were fortunate enough to witness the admirable little stock-company 
then playing here. The seasons of 1879-82 were distinguished for the bril- 
liant engagements of the late Adelaide Neilson, Mile. Bernhardt, Signor 
Salvini, Mrs. Langtry, and other eminent foreign artists. The Globe has 
seats for about 2,200. 

The Boston Museum is the oldest existing theatre in Boston, and has 
long been an established favorite with play-goers. Its history dates back to 
1841. In June of that year it was first opened to the public in a building 
on the site of Horticultural Hall on Tremont Street; and in 1846 the pres- 
ent substantial and attractive structure on Tremont near Court Street was 
erected. It was first called "The Boston Museum and Gallery of Fine 
Arts ; " and the performances, which were subordinate to the exhibition of 
curiosities and paintings, consisted of light musical entertainments. In 
1843 the first regular dramatic company was established. The opening 
performance in the new building was on Nov. 2, 1846. William Warren, 
the famous veteran comedian, first became connected with the Museum in 
1847; and his first appearance was on the 23d of August that year, as Billy 
Lackaday in " Sweethearts and Wives." Miss Annie Clarke, who is now 
the leading lady, began her career on the Museum stage in 1861 ; and 
Charles Barron, the present leading man, first became a member of the 
company in 1868. The first stage-manager was W. H. Smith. After six- 
teen years' service he was succeeded by E. F. Keach, who had for nine 
years been the leading man in the company. Mr. Keach managed from 
1859 until his death, Jan. 31, 1864, when the sole management was assumed 
by R. M. Field, who has since conducted the theatre with signal success 
and recognized ability. The Museum is owned by Moses Kimball. It is a 
four-story stone building; the front ornamented with three rows of large 
gas-jets with heavy globes, which, when lighted at night, well advertise the 
playhouse. It covers 20,000 square feet of land, extending from Tremont 
Street through to Court Square, upon which there is an exit. The audito- 
rium has been reconstructed four times, — in 1868, 1872, 1876, and 1880. 
The last was the most extensive and radical reconstruction, the interior 
having been practically rebuilt. It is now one of the most elegant theatres 
in appearance, decoration, and furnishings, in the city. An improved sys- 
tem of ventilation has been introduced, as well as every modern improve- 
ment to be found in the best-equipped theatres of the day. It has a seat- 
ing capacity of 1,500. It has a double balcony, parquet-circle, orchestra 
and proscenium chairs, and six private boxes. Prices range from ^i to 
35, cents. 

The Park Theatre is located at 617 and 619 Washington Street, near 



250 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

Boylston, with rear exits and stage-entrance on Bumstead Court. It is on 
the site of the old Beethoven Hall, was erected in the spring of 1879, and 
opened to the public on April 14 of that year. Its proprietors and man- 
agers are Henry E. Abbey and John B. Schoeffel, who own the Inter- 
national Hotel adjoining. These gentlemen also manage the Grand Opera 
House and the new National Opera House, New York. The Park Theatre 
is one of the cosiest and most convenient theatres in the country. It has 
two circles above the lower floor. The latter, as well as the two front rows 
of the first circle, are furnished with elegant wide upholstered chairs, with 
seats for over 600 people. The first balcony will accommodate about 250 ; 
and the second, or "family circle," has about 250 reserved seats, with a 
gallery behind it which will accommodate some 300 more. The lobbies at 
the rear of the seats on the lower and first floor give good standing-room 
for a large number ; over 500 having frequently witnessed performances 
from these positions. There are four proscenium or stage boxes, each of 
which will accommodate six people. The stage is 38 feet deep, with a 
width of 62 feet, and a height of 62 feet. The stage opening is 30 feet. 
The dome is 30 feet above the lower floor, d^ feet deep, and 60 wide. An 
immense ventilating shaft is placed in the centre of the dome, which has 
several " arms," by which the foul and heated air is conveyed from the 
building. The stage is what is known as the French pattern ; and the scenes 
are all "box sets," an arrangement for the construction, support, and work- 
ing of the same being original with and peculiar to this house. The exits 
are numerous and easy, and the appliances for guarding against fire are 
more complete than in any theatre in the country. An automatic sprinkling- 
apparatus is so arranged, that, should a fire accidentally occur, that portion 
of the house, whether front or back, would be deluged by a fine shower. 
Only first-class attractions are engaged at the Park, many of the stars and 
combinations being engaged from year to year. Mr. Abbey makes frequent 
trips to Europe, and is in constant correspondence with the principal Euro- 
pean managers and agents, by which means the most important novelties 
can a^vays be secured. 

The Bijou Theatre occupies the site of the old Alelodeon Hall and 
Gaiety Theatre, in still earlier times occupied by the ancient Lion Theatre. 
It was opened in December, 1882, and has won a high degree of popular 
favor, under the skilful management of Mr. E. H. Hastings. There are 
seats for 1,000 auditors, on the orchestra-floor and the broad horse-shoe 
balcony. The architecture and decoration are Moorish in style, with ara- 
besque carvings, a Moorish proscenium-arch, ormolu chandeliers, and a 
rich Moorish dome over the auditorium. The grand frieze of "A Mid- 
summer Night's Dream " was painted by Francis Lathrop, and there are 
many very artistic frescos. The drop-curtain is of peacock-blue plush, 



A'/NG'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



251 



arabesqued; and the scenery is quickly handled, by most ingenious devices. 
The house is heated by steam, and lighted by the Edison system. It is an 
exquisite theatre, the dainty parlor of the Boston places of amusement. 

The Hollis-street Theatre occupies the site of the ancient Hollis- 
street Church, and is built within the same massive walls. The church was 
demolished in 1885 ; and the present theatre took its place, occupying an 
eligible situation between Tremont and Washington Streets, and not far 
from the well-known theatre-district of the city. The time set for its open- 
ing was the autumn of 1885. 

The Howard Athenaeum, on Howard near Court Street, was built and 
opened in 1846, on the site of the old Miller Tabernacle. The management 
first presented the legitimate drama, and some famous performances have 
been given within its walls. It is now the leading novelty or variety theatre, 
and in that field has been very successful. In 1880-81 the theatre was leased 
to William Harris, who is still the general manager. The Howard seats 
1,500 people, and the prices range from $1 to 35 cents. 

The Windsor is an " up-town " theatre, on the corner of Washington and 
Dover Streets. The hall was altered into a theatre in 1878. Its name was 
changed to "The Windsor" in 1881. G. E. Lothrop is the proprietor. It 
is an attractive little theatre. 

The Dudley-street Opera House, formerly Institute Hal-l, in the Rox- 
bury district, on the corner of Washington and Dudley Streets, was opened 
as a theatre in 1879; the interior of the hall having been altered to conform 
to the requirements of a theatre. It has an inclined floor, with opera-chairs 
to seat 700 persons. The stage is small but convenient, and the house has 
an inviting appearance. Nathaniel J. Bradlee is the proprietor. 

The Boylston Museum is a small variety theatre on Washington Street, 
near Boylston. It is managed by G. E. Lothrop, and seats 930 people. 

Summer-Garden Theatres were established in 1879 and 1880. The 
principal one is Oakland Garden, on the line of the Highland Street Rail- 
way, in the Roxbury district. It is lightly built, for summer use only. The 
performances are of the variety order or light English opera. 

The Boston Roller-skating Rink is a new building at the corner of St. 
James Avenue and Clarendon Streets, where the favorite modern pastime of 
roller-skating is practised by thousands. .The rink is 225 feet long and 100 
feet wide, and cost $30,000. The floor includes nearly 13,000 square feet, 
and is laid with two -inch yellow-birch boards, and bordered by galleries and 
promenades. The interior is prettily decorated with flags, warmed by steam, 
and lighted by gas and electricity. 

There are several other rinks in Boston, of costly and skilful construction 
and equipment, such as the Columbia. They are patronized daily and 
jiightly by great crowds of pleasure-seekers. 



252 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



The Boston Music Hall ranks among the finest and largest public halls 
in the world. It was built in 1852 by an association of friends of music, the 
impulse having been given at one of the annual dinners of the Harvard 
Musical Association. The hall has no external architectural features wor- 
thy of mention, it being almost entirely surrounded by other buildings. 
Glimpses of its plain brick walls are caught through Hamilton Place, from 
Tremont Street, and through Central Court from Winter Street. There are 
two entrances, — one on Central Court, and the other on Hamilton Place, 
opposite the Park-street Church. The effect of the interior is grand and 
imposing, and the acoustic properties are remarkably fine. The hall is 130 

feet long, 78 feet wide, and 65 feet 
high. Two balconies run around 
three sides of the hall, the total 
seating capacity of which is 2,585. 
The hall is hghted by a line of 
hundreds of gas-jets along the cor- 
nice. It formerly contained the 
great organ, one of the largest and 
finest in existence, which was built 
by Walcker, in Ludvvigsburg, near 
Stuttgart, Germany. It contains 
5,474 pipes, 690 of which are in 
the pedal organ ; and it also has 
84 complete registers. Its case, 
designed by Hammatt Billings, is 
a fine example of artistic wood- 
carving. The organ was con- 
tracted for in 1856, and was first 
heard by the public in a grand 
concert given Nov. 2, 1863. Its 
cost was $60,000. It was taken 
down from its place in Music Hall 




The Great Organ, Music Hal 



in 1884, and stored away, pending the building of the new hall of the New- 
England Conservatory of Music, when it will be set up there, as an adjunct 
to future great concerts and oratorios. At one end of Music Hall stands 
a bronze statue of Beethoven, said to be the finest portrait-statue in 
America. In a niche in the opposite wall is a copy of the Belvedere 
Apollo; and on the same wall are three fine busts of composers, which 
with their beautiful brackets were the gift of Charlotte Cushman. Hun- 
dreds of the most distinguished musicians and orators have appeared in 
Music Hall. Beneath the large hall is a smaller one, called Bumstcad Hall. 
It is arranged like an amphitheatre. From time to time the removal of the 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



253 



Music Hall, to make way for business improvements, has been threatened. 
It has more than once been seriously proposed to extend Hamilton Place 
to Washington Street, thus cutting through the territory on which it stands ; 
and the musical community has been considerably disturbed by the agitation 
of these propositions. In the summer of 1881 a controlling share in the 
ownership was purchased in the interest of its retention, and its interior 
was considerably freshened and improved. It is in this hall that the great 
majority of the most noteworthy concerts of the musical season are given 
from year to year. 

Tremont Temple was rebuilt in October, 1880, to replace the Tremont 
Temple destroyed by fire on Aug. 14, 1879, ^^^^ i^o^v contains one of the 
best halls in this country. It 
occupies the site of the old 
Tremont Theatre on Tremont 
Street, between School Street 
and Montgomery Place. It 
had its origin in the desire to 
provide a place of worship 
where the seats should be free 
to all ; and as a result a build- 
ing was erected at a cost of 
over $230,000. An associa- 
tion called the Evangelical 
Baptist Benevolent and Mis- 
sionary Society was formed to 
promote the ends for which 
the enterprise was undertaken, 
and also to engage in a gen- 
eral work of charity and be- 
nevolence. The greater por- 
tion of the building is still used for these purposes, the large hall being 
occupied for Sunday services by the Union Temple Church. Here are 
the headquarters of the New-England Baptists, together with the offices 
of the Baptist Missionary Union and the New-England department of 
the Home Mission Society. The Baptist Social Union, composed of 
representatives from all Baptist churches in the city and vicinity, holds its 
monthly meetings in the building. The Temple fagade is shown in the 
accompanying illustration. The main hall is 122 feet long, 72 feet wide, 
and 66 feet high. It has, beside the main floor, a first and a second gallery, 
with a total seating capacity of 2,600. In it is a grand Hook & Hastings 
organ, one of the largest and finest in America. It is the fourth organ this 
firm has built for the Tremont Temple. It is of great power and of singular 




Tremont Temple, Tremont Street 



254 



A'/NG'S HANDBOOK' OF BOSTON. 



beauty, and is a favorite instrument with musicians. It has four manuals, 
sixty-six registers, and 3,442 pipes, and unusual mechanical resources. Be- 
neath the main hall is the Meionaon, a smaller hall, but cosey, convenient, 
and attractive, with a seating capacity of nearly 1,000, and used for religious, 
temperance, and other meetings. The several entrances are commodious, 
and afford an almost instantaneous exit from the halls. The popular reli- 
gious lectures by Joseph Cook have been delivered in Tremont Temple for 
several years, and have attracted vast and enthusiastic audiences. 

The New Mechanics' Hall, in the building of the Massachusetts Chari- 
table Mechanics' Association on Huntington Avenue, corner of West 
Newton Street, is one of the largest halls in the world. It has a seating 
capacity of 8,000, and the famous Roosevelt organ and Whittier passenger- 
elevators. During the triennial exhibitions it is used in connection with 
the rest of the building for exhibition purposes. Several remarkable con- 
certs have been given here, and other entertainments, attended by vast 
numbers of people. 

Horticultural Hall, the home of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, 
is a handsome structure of white granite, on Tremont Street, between Brom- 
tield Street and Montgomery Place. The society, incorporated in 1829,15 

the oldest horticultural 
society in the country, 
excepting that of Penn- 
sylvania. Since its 
foundation it has held 
horticultural exhi- 
bitions every Saturday 
through the growing 
season, besides an an- 
nual exhibition in Sep- 
tember, and special 
shows of roses, straw- 
berries, etc., in their 
seasons. On these oc- 
casions the choicest 
fruits, flowers, plants, 
and vegetables, of the 
newest and finest va- 
rieties, are shown, and 
have done much toward 
cultivating a knowledge of and taste for horticulture and the best means of 
improving its productions. Liberal premiums have been offered, and the 
society may fairly claim to have done more for the advancement of horticul- 




Tremont Street. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 255 

ture than any other in the country. To this society also the community is 
indebted for the establishment of Mount-Auburn Cemetery. In 1844 the 
society built a hall on School Street, believed to be the first permanent 
building ever erected by any horticultural society. This was removed in 
i860, and the present building was dedicated in 1865. The front is of a 
dignified and monumental character, and is embellished with elegant works 
of art, comprising costly statues of Ceres, Flora, and Pomona. The ground- 
floor is occupied by stores ; the second story by the Library Room of the 
society and a hall for the weekly exhibitions ; and the upper story by a 
large and elegant hall used in addition to the lower hall at the annual and 
other important exhibitions. Both of these halls are often used for con- 
certs and the better class of entertainments. The society's library, com- 
prising over 4,000 volumes, is the most valuable collection of horticultural 
works in the United States. The halls are adorned with portraits and busts 
of the presidents, founders, and benefactors of the society. 

Union Hall, in the building of the Young Men's Christian Union on 
Boylston Street, is a favorite hall for concerts and private theatricals, its 
stage being fitted up for the special accommodation of the latter. It has a 
seating capacity of 522, is beautifully decorated, and comfortably furnished. 

The Association Hall is in the Young Men's Christian Association 
building, on the corner of Berkeley and Boylston Streets. It is provided 
with a fine organ, and is used for concerts, lectures, and other entertain- 
ments. Its seating capacity is about 1,000, 

The Parker Memorial Hall, at the corner of Berkeley and Appleton 
Streets, is the place of worship of the Twenty-Eighth Congregational 
Society, and was built to commemorate the renowned preacher, Theodore 
Parker. It has a seating capacity of 850. The first floor is devoted to the 
rooms of the Parker Fraternity, the well-known social organization con- 
nected with the society. 

The Paine Memorial Building is on Appleton Street, between Tremont 
and Berkeley Streets. It was built in commemoration of Thomas Paine. 
The famous San Francisco millionnaire, James Lick, gave $18,000 towards 
the building-fund. The hall has seats for 800 persons. 

Investigator Hall, in the Paine Memorial Building, has seating capacity 
of about 600. 

Wesleyan Hall, in the Methodist building on Bromfield Street, is much 
used for lectures and other occasions where the audiences are not large. It 
is now used for the rehearsals of the Boylston Club. Its seating capacity 
is about 300. 

The Hawthorne Rooms, named in honor of Nathaniel Hawthorne, in 
the handsome Warren Building on Park Street, are elegant and tasteful. 
They are specially devoted to morning lectures, given between 12 and i, 
after a style which has for some time prevailed in London, and which has 



256 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

lately become quite popular in Boston. They are also used for evening 
entertainments of a high character ; are reached by an elevator, as well as 
by a broad staircase, and have a seating capacity of about 250. Near this 
site, on Park Street, stood the ancient Bridewell and Almshouse, and Town 
Pound. The two first-named were built in 1712 and 1838, and after the 
battle of Bunker Hill were crowded with wounded British soldiers. The 
street was called Gentry Street, as it led up to Gentry Hill. Near by, on 
Hamilton Place, was the Manufactory House, founded about 1718, where 
all Boston, young and old, rich and poor, came to learn the art of spinning 
from certain North-of-lreland colonists, who also introduced the potato here. 

The Turnhalle, in the building of the Turnverein, on Middlesex Street, 
is the central gathering-point of the German population. A description of 
it will be found in another part of this chapter. 

Faneuil Hall, on Faneuil-Hall Square and Merchants' Row, is illustrated 
and described in the chapter on " Markets and Exchanges." 

Other Halls. — Other well-known halls in the city are Papanti's, 23 Tre- 
mont Street, where many famous dinners in the past have taken place, and 
which is now mostly used for dancing ; Nassau Hall, corner Washington and 
Nassau Streets, much used by believers in "isms;" Hospitaller Hall, 712 
Washington Street, which, with Godman Hall, 176 Tremont Street, is 
frequented largely by labor-reformers and secret; organizations ; John A. 
Andrew Hall, in what was formerly the Essex-street Ghurch, at the corner of 
Ghauncy and Essex Streets, used mostly for political and trades meetings ; 
Goncord Hall, on Goncord Street, at the South End, used mostly for dan- 
cing ; and Pilgrim Hall, in the Gongregational Building, corner of Beacon 
and Somerset Streets, used for religious and social gatherings by the Gon- 
gregationalists and others. In the outl3ing districts, tlie Roxbury district has 
Bacon's Hall, 2185 Washington Street; Highland Hall, 191 Warren Street, 
and several others. In the Dorchester district is the old Town Hall. In 
Jamaica Plain, West-Roxbiiry district, is Gurtis Hall, a beautiful building, 
formerly the Town Hall. On annexation the Boston city council gave it its 
present name in honor of one of the most public-spirited citizens of the dis- 
trict. It is used for public gatherings and social festivities. In the Gharles- 
town district the principal hall is Monument Hall, on Main Street, near the 
Neck. There are also the Gity Hall, Gity Square; Gongress Hall, Main 
Street; Evening Star Hall, Main Street; Freemason's Hall, Thompson 
Square; Harvard Hall, Bow Street; Ivanhoe Hall, Main Street; Odd 
P^ellows' Hall, Main Street; Waverley Hall, Waverley Block; Winthrop 
Hall, Main Street. East Boston has Lyceum Hall, on Maverick Square ; 
Webster Hall, Webster Street ; and Maverick Hall, near Maverick Square. 
South Boston has Wait's Hall. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



257 



The Clubs, and there are many of them, constitute one of the most 
characteristic features of Boston. Some are unique and peculiar in their 
•management and purposes. In these clubs are drawn together the various 
little groups of people who in a great city are congenial to one another, either 
from holding relative positions in wealth and station, or from having similar 
desires in mental, social, and physical culture. 

The Temple Club, established in 1829, is the oldest. Its building, at 
No. 35 West Street, is the only one designed expressly for club uses, and 
presents a modest front, while the interior is admirably arranged for the 
special purpose for which it was designed. The club is a small one ; and 
its reputation for good-fellowship is of long standing. The admission-fee is 
$100, and the annual assessments are not allowed to exceed that amount. 

The Somerset Club is the most fashionable and exclusive. It was or- 
ganized in 1852, and was an outgrowth of the T^mont Club. It first occu- 
pied the substantial 
granite mansion-house 
on the corner of Bea- 
con and Somerset 
Streets, now known as 
" The Congregational 
House;" and in 1872 
it moved to the .mag- 
nificent granite-front 
residence on Beacon 
Street, opposite the 
Common, built by the 
late David Sears, from 
whom it was bought. 
The interior of the 
house is elegant, and 
at the same time has 
an exceedingly com- 
fortable look. A nota- 
ble feature is a ladies' 
restaurant, for guests 
of the members, which 
is also open to non- 
members accompany- 
ing ladies on club- 
order. There is also a charming ladies' supper-room, overlooking the 
Common. The membership was originally limited to 250 ; but it is now 
fixed at 600. Applications for membership are determined wholly by a 




Somerset Club House, Beacon Street. 



258 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

committee on elections. The admission-fee and annual assessment-fee are 
$100 each. On the site of the present Somerset Club house was the home 
of Copley, the famous painter. 

The Union Club was established near the close of the Rebellion, as a 
semi-political club, in support of the Union cause ; but it has since lost its 
political character, and has become a social club of the highest respectabili- 
ty. The bench and bar are well represented in it. Its first president was 
Edward Everett ; and among his successors have been such men as Charles 
G. Loring, Richard H. Dana, jun., Henry Lee, and Lemuel Shaw, son of the 
great chief justice. Its membership is limited to 600. Applicants for ad- 
mission must first be reported on favorably by the committee, and then 
voted on by the club ; one black ball in five is sufficient to exclude. The 
entrance-fee is $100, and the annual assessment $50. A feature of the 
club is its excellent table-cPhote dinners. The club-house is conveniently 
and pleasantly situated on Park Street, opposite the Common, and was for- 
merly the residence of Abbott Lawrence. 

The St. Botolph Club is one of the newest club-organizations. It was 
organized in 1880, and grew out of a desire to establish in the city a club 
fashioned after the Century Club in New York, its membership composed 
of representative professional men. It has a large membership, including 
many prominent literary men, artists, and lawyers, and several of the best- 
known clergymen of the city. The club-house, at No. 85 Boylston Street, 
opposite the Public Garden, is handsomely decorated and comfortably fur- 
nished ; and its art-gallery, in which there are annual and other exhibitions 
of a high order of merit, is one of its chief features. Names of candidates 
for admission must be presented by two members, and posted, and then 
passed upon by a special committee, who alone elect. The entrance-fee 
is $50, and the annual assessment $30. Francis Parkman is president. 

The Central Club is of recent origin, established in 1869 by prominent 
South-End residents. Its first meetings were in the St. James Hotel, and 
its first club-house was on Concord Street. Its second club-house, first 
occupied in 1872, was a conspicuous brown-stone building on Washington 
Street, at the corner of Worcester Square. In May, 1882, the club moved 
into the house of the Art-Club, No. 64 Boylston Street, which was thor- 
oughly renovated, and re-arranged for the convenience and comfort of its new 
occupants. The club has a large membership. It is a social organization 
of the most inviting sort. 

The Suffolk Club has rooms in a brick building at No. 4^ Beacon Street. 
One writer describes this as " an association for the development of the 
pleasurable social affinities of seemingly incongruous kinds of character." 
To this club belong a number of prominent Democratic politicians. Leo- 
pold Morse is the president. 



26o KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

The Tavern Club is a lunch and dining club of gentlemen interested in 
and devoted to literature, art, music, etc. It occupies very cosey and pleas- 
ant little rooms at the corner of Boylston Street and Park Square, in the 
building formerly occupied by the studios of William M. Hunt and Fred- 
erick P. Vinton. William D. Hovvells is president. 

The Boston Press Club is a prosperous organization of upwards of 80 
members. It is now 26 years old. James W. Clarke is president, and J. E. 
Griffiths secretary. 

The New-England Woman's Club is one of the institutions of Boston. 
It was organized ten years ago by prominent ladies, and had its home at 
first in Tremont Place. It afterwards removed to more spacious quarters 
on Park Street, opposite the Common, a few doors from the Union Club. 
It is very select, and gives receptions, breakfasts, and "teas" to distin- 
guished guests ; and it has regular weekly meetings, at which essays are 
read and discussions indulged in. 

The University Club was organized Feb. 16, 1 881, to afford the officers 
of all departments of Harvard University an opportunity of becoming ac- 
quainted with one another, and of acting somewhat concertedly to advance 
the interests of the institution. Its membership includes only the Corpora- 
tion, the Board of Overseers, the Academic Council, and the leading repre- 
sentatives of the Library and of the Peabody Museum. 

The Boston Tennis Club, organized in 1879, occupies for exercise in the 
game a brick building on Buckingham Street near Dartmouth Street. 

The Appalachian Mountain Club was organized in 1876, and in 1878 
re-organized and chartered. Its object is to bring together for co-operation 
all those interested in the mountains of New England and adjacent regions, 
in rendering the mountain resorts more attractive by building paths, camps, 
and other conveniences, constructing and publishing accurate maps, and 
collecting all available information concerning the mountain regions. It 
also aims to collect and make available the results of scattered scientific 
observations of all kinds. The club holds monthly meetings during the 
winter seasons, and field-meetings during the summer, incidentally organiz- 
ing expeditions to accessible points of interest. It also publishes papers 
read at its meetings, in the form of an occasional magazine entitled "Ap- 
palachia," and is accumulating a library. Thomas Wentworth Higginson 
of Cambridge is president, Rosewell B. Lawrence secretary, and Ciardner 
M. Jones treasurer. It has about 550 active members, and a number of 
honorary members. Its headquarters are at the Institute of Technology. 

The Civil Service Reform Association was organized in 1880 to agitate 
reform in the system of appointments to office in the civil service, and 
to publish literature in behalf of such reform. Its membership is large, 
and very active in disseminating wholesome political doctrines. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON 261 

The Antiquarian Club was organized in 1879 f"'' tlie purpose of collect- 
ing and preserving historical records; and in 1882 was united with the 
Bostonian Society, whose object and characteristics are defined in the 
paragraph on the Old State House. 

The Saturday-Morning Club is of comparatively recent organization, 
and consists of about sixty young ladies, who listen to lectures from literary 
and scientific celebrities, and meet for '' mutual improvement," and perhaps 
"mutual admiration '' as well. 

The Literary Clubs of Boston have no club-houses, but meet generally 
at some leading hotel around the festive mahogany. The Saturday Club, 
also known as the Literary Club, dines once a month at Parker's, and always 
on the last day of the week. It is famous for the literary and scientific 
celebrities who have from time to time belonged to it. The Papyrus Club 
meets monthly at dinner, at the Revere House. Its membership is two- 
thirds literary, and one-third miscellaneous. One black ball in five ex- 
cludes a candidate for admittance. It frequently entertains distinguished 
literary or other guests, and occasionally celebrates "ladies' night," on 
which occasion ladies prominent in literature are entertained as its guests. 
The Wednesday-evening Century Club, and the Thursday Club, are asso- 
ciations of gentlemen representing, for the most part, professional life, who 
meet at the houses of one another. 

The leading clubs of actors are the Macaroni, the Ace of Clubs, and the 
Americas. The latter has rooms on Tremont Street, opposite the Museum. 
The two former meet once a month at the Parker House. The Society of 
Elks is also largely composed of members of the dramatic profession. 

The Union Boat-Club, organized in 1851, is one of the oldest boating- 
organizations in the country. Its club-house is at the foot of Chestnut 
Street, on the Charles River, at the head of the famous boat-racing course. 
It is an attractive building, in the Swiss style, with gymnasium and rooms 
for the convenience of the members, who number 130. The club rowed 
in a race at Hull, in 1853, in which its boat was steered by the bow oar, 
instead of by a coxswain, the first time that it was done in this country. 
It introduced the first wherry-race on the Charles in 1854; and in 1857 its 
crew won the Beacon cup from the Harvards. The club, as an organization, 
has not been represented on the Charles of late years. 

The Boston Yacht-Club was organized in 1866, and chartered in 1868. 
It was the first club formed in Boston for yachting purposes, except a small 
club that began in 1834 and ended in 1837. It was also the first yacht-club 
chartered by the State. At present it comprises 200 members and 80 yachts, 
and owns considerable property at City Point, South Boston. The club- 
house, finely situated on the shore, is open to the winds, easterly and south- 
erly, that sweep over Boston Harbor and Dorchester Bay, and commands a 



262 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



pleasing view in all directions. The conveniences for boating purposes, and 
the charms as a place of resort for its members in summer months, give it 
exceptional attractions. The officers of the club are : commodore, Jacob 
Pfaff; vice-commodore, John B. Meer; rear-commodore, Washington E. 




Boston Yacht-Club House, City Point. 

Connor ; secretary, Thomas Dean ; treasurer, Augustus Russ. The last 
two named have filled the same offices since the organization of the club. 

The South-Boston Yacht-Club was organized in 1868, and incorporated 
in 1877. It has 152 members, and the yachts enrolled number 44. Its 
house, 30 by 45 feet, has a good wharf, is conveniently arranged, and 
admirably situated on the extreme point of South Boston. It was the first 
liouse erected in Massachusetts by a yacht-club. The officers are : com- 
modore. Otis A. Ruggles ; vice-commodore, Henry Hussey ; fleet-captain. 
James Donnovan ; secretary, John Winniatt ; treasurer, Thomas Christian. 

Other Yacht Clubs include the Washinn^ton Village Club, James W. 
Mansfield, commodore; Bunker-Hill Club, H. L. Johnson, commodore; 
Dorchester Club, William Gray, jun., commodore ; Jeffries Club, George A. 
Palmer, commodore ; as well as a few composed of Boston men which have 
their houses outside the city limits. 

The Boston Chess Club has rooms at 19S Washington Street. The 
secretary is John B. Rhodes. 

The Boston Natatorium, which was started in 18S0, was a])andoned 
before any thing definite was accomplished. 

The Boston Base-Ball Association was incorporated in 1871, and sup- 
ports the "Boston Nine," or "The Red-Stockings" as it is often called. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



263 



w». 



Most of the stockholders are business-men who do not expect any returns 
from their investments, which were made merely to encourage the game. 
The Association has had large and comfortable club-rooms at 765 Washing- 
ton Street, near Hollis Street. During the winter the members of the 
Nine exercise themselves at the gymnasium of the Young Men's Christian 
Union. Harry Wright was for a long time the captain, secretary, and man- 
ager ; but John Morrill is now manager. 

The Union Athletic Club was organized in 1875 by a few members of 
the old Union Gymnasium on Washington Street. It has fall and winter 
meetings, open to all amateurs. The liberal prizes offered by the club have 
at times brought to Boston some of the best amateur athletes. The club 
has the use of the Boston Base-Ball Club grounds. Its headquarters are 
in the Young Men's Christian Union building; and its ofificers are W. C. 
Loring, president; P. F. Ferris, secretary and treasurer. 

The Lacrosse Club is a part of the Union Athletic Club, and was 
formed in 1878. It won the cup offered by the city of Boston, to be com- 
peted for by the Ravenwoods of Brooklyn 
and this club. At the expense of this club, 
the Indian Team of Montreal and other 
visiting clubs played in Boston, and showed 
to irreat advantac:e the Lacrosse game, 
which is destined to become quite popular. 

The Boston Turnverein was organized 
in 1849, and incorporated in 1871. The so- 
ciety, comprising about 500 members, alrnost 
all Germans, owns the Turnhalle on Middle- 
sex Street. The building, which was erected 
in 1876, cost, with the land, $65,000. It 
contains a thoroughly-equipped gymnasium ; 
billiard-rooms ; bowling-alleys ; a hall having 
a seating-capacity of 500, and a stage for 
private theatricals, concerts, and other en- 
tertainments ; a reading-room, with library 
of 2,500 volumes ; and restaurant, parlors, 
and reception-rooms. The Turnverein is 
])artly a benevolent organization. Its dues 
are : for active members $9.00 a year, which 
entitles the member to a weekly payment of 
S5.00 in case of sickness ; and for passive 
members $6.00 a year. The society also 
issues a small weekly periodical, called the 
'' Turner-Zeitung." The president is Carl Eberhard ; the treasurer, Julius 
Meyer; the secretary, William Kammler. 




Turnhalle, Middl 



264 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



Secret Societies are also numerous and strong in Boston, There are 
Masonic societies, the Knights Templars, the Odd Fellows, the Knights of 
Pythias, the Improved Order of Red Men, the Knights of Honor, the Inde- 
pendent Order of Good Templars, the Templars of Honor, the German 
Order of Harugari, the Sovereigns of Industry, the United American Me- 
chanics, the Independent Order of Foresters, the Order of Alfredians, and 
the Grand Army of the Republic. 

The Masonic Temple, in which are gathered the majority of the several 
Masonic organizations in the city, and which is the headquarters of the 
grand lodge, is an elegant and imposing granite building, on the corner of 
Tremont and Boylston Streets, with octagonal towers rising to the height 
of 120 feet, while the height of the building proper is 90 feet. The Tre- 
mont-street front is '^^ feet wide. The entire building, with the exception of 

the street and basement floors, ^_ 

is occupied by the Masonic or- 
ganizations. It is seven sto- 
ries high. It has three large 
halls for meetings, furnished 
one in the Corinthian, one in 
the Egyptian, and the third 
in the Gothic styles. The 
corner-stone was laid Oct. 14, 
1864; and the building was 
dedicated on St. John's Day, 
June 22, 1867, witli imposing 
ceremonies, and one of the 
largest of Masonic street- 
processions. President John- 
son was present on the occa- 
sion. The Masons, before 
the building of the present 
Temple, occupied as head- 
quarters a building on the 
site of the present building, 

which, together with the Win- '^^^°"'= ""^"p'^' 

throp House adjoining it, was destroyed by fire in 1864. At an earlier 
period the building now used as the United States Court House, on Tre- 
mont Street, corner of Temple Place, was the Masonic headquarters. 

The Odd Fellows' Hall is an elegant and imposing building completed in 
1872. Its situation is an admirable one, to show its architectural design to 
the best advantage, on the corner of Tremont and Berkeley Streets, both of 
which are wide streets. It covers 12,000 square feet of land, and is con- 




Tremont Street. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



265 



structed of Concord and Hallowell white granite. It is four stories high. 
The street floor and basement are occupied by stores. The largest halls 
are in the fourth story, one 54 by 94 feet, and 25 feet high in the clear ; and 
the other a banquet-hall, 26 by no feet; both these halls are provided with 
ample ante-rooms. Other halls in the spacious building are the encamp- 
ment-hall in the roof ; the lodge-halls, with ante-rooms and side-rooms, and 
die grand-lodge office and grand master's private room, all in the third 
story. The grand entrance is from Tremont Street. In the second story 
is the large hall, and also numerous offices from which rent is received ; 
so that, with what is received from renting the stores, offices, and hall, the 




Odd Fellows' Hail. Tremont Street 



revenue from the building is good. This building was built by the Odd 
Fellows' Hall Association, which was incorporated in 1870. The money 
was raised at once, the site purchased, and in the summer of 1871 the 
corner-stone was laid, with the customary ceremony, and the event was duly 
celebrated. In the Charlestown district there is a commodious Odd Fellows' 
Hall at No. 25 Main Street; in the Highland district, at No. 2298 Washing- 
ton Street; and in the West-Roxbury district, on Green, corner of Boylston 
Street, Jamaica Plain. 

The Grand Army of the Republic is a secret semi-military organization, 
composed exclusively of honorably discharged soldiers and sailors who 
served in the army and navy during the civil war. It is organized into 
posts, State departments, and a national encampment; and its objects are 
to perpetuate the fraternity and comradeship formed in the camp and on the 
battle-field, to care for the needy and destitute and the widows and orphans 



266 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

of those ^vho fell, and to cultivate a spirit of unswerving loyalty to the 
national government. In the State there are i8i posts, which annually dis- 
burse over $40,000 in relief, the greater part to persons not belonging to 
the order. The headquarters of the Massachusetts department is at 12 
Pemberton Square. A. W. Hersey is the department commander, A. C. 
Monroe assistant-adjutant-general, and W. W. Scott assistant-quartermaster- 
general. Fourteen posts are chartered in Boston, which bear the names of 
distinguished soldiers and patriots, and are styled, in Grand-Army circles, 
Charles Russell Lowell Post 7, John A. Andrew Post 15, etc. 

The Militia of Massachusetts was wholly re-organized under the law of 
1878. Exclusive of the corps of cadets, which are unattached, it is divided 
into two brigades, both of which have their headquarters in Boston, — the 
first brigade, Brig.-Gen. Nat Wales, at No. 608 Washington Street ; and the 
second brigade, Brig.-Gen. Benjamin F. Peach, jun., at 26 Pemberton Square. 
The Boston organizations belonging to the first brigade are : Cos. A, C, D, 
K, and L of the First Regiment of Infantry, Col. A. C. Wellington, head- 
quarters corner of Washington and Worcester Streets ; Co. L, Sixth Regi- 
ment, armory 3 North Russell Street. The Boston organizations belonging 
to the second brigade are : Battery A, First Battalion Light Artillery, Capt. 
John C. Potter, headquarters Wareham Street, corner of Harrison Avenue ; 
the First Battalion of Cavalry, Major Horace G. Kemp, headquarters 37 
Tremont Street; Cos. A, D, and H, of the Fifth Regiment of Infantry, Col. 
W. A. Bancroft, headquarters 15 Pemberton Square; Cos. A, B, C, D, E, G, 
and H of the Ninth Regiment of Infantry, Col. William M. Strachan, head- 
quarters 13 Pemberton Square. The whole militia of Massachusetts, under 
the new law, is limited to sixty companies of infantry, three of cavalry, 
three of light artillery, and tw^o corps of cadets. The First Corps of Cadets, 
formerly called the Independent Corps of Cadets, Lieut.-Col. Thomas F. 
Edmands, with a handsome new armory at 130 Columbus Avenue, was 
organized in 1741, and has always been the body-guard of his Excellency the 
Governor. The National Lancers (Co. A), a famous cavalry organization, 
now belongs to tlie First Battalion of Cavalry, which also includes the Rox- 
bury Horse Guards (Co. D). The whole militia is kept in a state of high 
discipline, and has often demonstrated its efficiency in active service. 

The Boston School Regiment comprises the boys of the public Latin and 
high schools. A corps of cadets is connected with the Massachusetts In- 
stitute of Technology, military drill being obhgatory upon the lowest class. 
The boys of the Chauncy-Hall School have an efficient military organization. 
The Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company is the oldest military 
organization in the United States. It was formed in 1638 as " The Military 
Company of Boston." In 1657 it was recognized as an artillery company. 
The title "Ancient and Honorable" first occurs in the records, September, 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 267 

1700. The " Honorable" was assumed from the circumstance that its cap- 
tains had belonged to the Honorable Artillery Company of London. The 
company dispersed during the Revolution, but was revived in 1789. The 
" election sermon " has annually been preached before the company, since 
1639, with the exception of five years during Andros's government. For 
many years it has been the annual custom of the governor to personally 
commission the officers on the Common. The company no longer belongs 
to the mililia, and is now more of a social than a military organization. The 
members still retain their ancient privilege of exemption from jury-duty, — a 
feature which induces many business men to become members of this com- 
pany. The headquarters of the company are in Faneuil Hall. 

The Mercantile Library Association, for more than fifty years a leading 
literary institution in Boston, has recently been re-organized on a new basis, 

and now offers manv of the advantages of club-life, while retaining its liter- 
al ■ o 

ary features. Its building is on the corner of Tremont and West Newton 
Streets. The library of 18,000 volumes was transferred to the Boston 
Public Library in 1877. The parlors are ornamented with portraits and 
statuary, and supplied with the most desired newspapers and magazines. 
In the second story are rooms for conversation and social games, in which 
smoking is allowed. Literary and musical entertainments are given during 
the winter months. The terms of membership are $10 a year. The presi- 
dent is Everett W. Burdett, the treasurer A. C. Fearing, jun. 

The Central Lunch Club is a modest association of about 125 gentlemen 
engaged in various pursuits, whose places of business are in the vicinity of 
State and Congress Streets. Here, in a quiet place called Post-office Ave- 
nue, leading from Congress Street to the Merchants' Exchange, are the 
cosey and neat club-rooms where the members get their noonday meal. 
Non-members are admitted on invitation of members. The entrance-fee is 
$15, and the assessments never exceed $15 a month. The members com- 
prise an aristocratic party of leading professional and business men, many 
of whom are graduates from Harvard College. 

The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks is a secret benevolent 
organization. At first its membership was confined chiefly to actors, but 
it is now composed of persons from all professions. As the theatrical 
element is predominant, the lodges located in cities throughout the country 
secure an annual "benefit" at some local theatre. The Boston Lodge, 
No. 10, received about $3,100 from its benefit at the Boston Theatre in 
1879. The lodge was organized May 23, 1878, and its rooms are at No. 176 
Tremont Street. A co-operative plan of life-insurance is conducted by the 
order. 

There are other clubs and many societies for social, religious, educational, 
and divers purposes, some of which will be noticed in other chapters. 



2 68 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

The Boston Society of Architects was organized May 22, 1867; the 
object of organization being to promote the interests of architects and 
their art. The society has had no stated headquarters for several years, 
but meets monthly at some hotel. The officers are : President, Edward C. 
Cabot ; vice-president, John H. Sturgis ; secretary, T. M. Clark ; treasurer, 
William G. Preston. 

Boston Latin School Association. — This society of teachers and 
scholars of the Boston Latin School was organized in 1844, and incor- 
porated in 1845. Its purpose has been to provide libraries and cabinets for 
the school, and to promote its general welfare. The number of living mem- 
bers is about 500, and the list includes many noted names. The association 
has in the school building a library of 3,000 volumes, and a large number of 
busts, portraits, and other property. It also owns Greenough's marble statue 
representing the A/ma Mater of the school. A dinner is given annually by 
the Association at the Parker House, — the site of the old school. The 
president is Charles K. Dillaway ; vice-president, Rev. Edward Everett 
Hale ; hbrarian, Moses Merrill ; secretary and treasurer, Grenville H. Nor- 
cross, 35 Congress Street. The standing committee is composed of Rev. 
Henry F. Jenks, Stephen G. Ueblois, Horace E. Scudder, William Gal- 
lagher, jun., and Henry W. Haynes. 

The Boston Memorial Association is a body of prominent citizens 
whose aim it is to see that the future monumental decoration of the city is 
well and wisely done, and that suitable memorials of the past citizens and 
events shall in due 'time be erected. The president is M. P. Kennard; 
vice-presidents, James L. Little, Francis Jaques, C. U. Cotting. and Charles 
G. Wood ; secretary, Prentiss Cummings. 

The Cyclorama of the Battle of Gettysburg is on Tremont Street, 
between Berkeley and Clarendon Streets, and occupies a large and fireproof 
circular brick building, abounding in turrets and battlements, and approached 
between very feudal-looking outer towers, in and about which are comfortable 
parlors, offices, etc. The cyclorama consists of a painting 400 feet long 
and 50 feet high, covering 20,000 square feet, painted by Paul Philippoteaux 
of Paris, the artist of similar works, highly famous in Europe, relative to the 
Siege of Paris, the Taking of Plevna, the Passage of the Balkans, Tell-el- 
Kebir, etc. After studying the field of Gettysburg for some months, he 
returned to Paris, and worked two years on this great panorama. The 
spectator appears to be standing on a high hill (Cemetery Hill), with a broad 
expanse of country opening away on every side, along which, in attitudes 
of surprising naturalness, the columns and batteries of the two great armies 
are seen in their momentous death-struggle. The vast picture is full of 
action. The Cyclorama is open every day, from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. 

The Beacon Society was formed in 1882, as an outcome of an organiza- 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



269 



tion made up to canvass the question of a world's-fair in Boston in 1885, 
and is "intended to throw light upon all questions of importance to the 
advancement of the city of Boston, . . . and for the purpose of advancing 
its material, commercial, and social prosperity.'' The society has a monthly 
dinner at the Hotel Vendome, 
at which there is much discus- 
sion about the topics before 
mentioned, and cognate subjects 
of interest. The society has 
sixty members. Its president 
is John C. Paige. 

The Commercial Club is 
an organization of about sixty 
prominent business men, includ- 
ing one representative from each 
important department of the 
city's trade. They meet once a 
month, during the busy season 
of trade (from September to 
June) to partake of a dinner, and 
to discuss questions relating to 
commerce, finance, business law 
and legislation, and kindred top- 
ics. The club also entertains dis- 
tinguished merchants and mer- 
cantile associations from other 
cities, and has given interesting 
receptions to the commercial 
clubs of Cincinnati, Chicago, and 
St. Louis, which are founded on 
the same general plan as the 
Boston or parent society. The 
club dates from 1868, and is an 
outgrowth of a large commercial 
convention held in Boston dur- 
ing the previous year. It meets 
at the hotels (usually at Young's). 
Lincoln. 

The Merchants' Club, founded in 1878, has sixty members, and has 
stated meetings for dining and discussion, like the Commercial Club. It 
includes in its membership many well-known and powerful business men, 
representing a large amount of capital and various mercantile interests. 




Massachusetts Bicycle Club Club-House, Newbury Street. 

The president is William Henry 



270 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



The Puritan Club"; one of the most modern in its origin of all the Boston 
clubs, is a purely social organization, largely composed of young men of 
family and position. Its habitat is on Beacon Hill, and its first house was 
on Spruce Street. In 1885 it acquired the handsome old mansion of Mrs. 
Harrison Gray Otis, on Mount Vernon Street, which has been appropriately 
remodelled for its new occupants. 

The Country Club is made up of well-known Bostonians of good social 
rank and position, interested in out-door sports, racing, steeple-chasing, 
hunting with hounds, lawn-tennis, etc. The club-house, race-course, and 
grounds are at Clyde Park, Brookline, where many interesting races are 
run by the gentlemen riders of the clul). There are about four hundred 
members. 

Another interesting and peculiar feature of Boston club-life is seen in 
its numerous and prosperous poHtical dining-clubs, composed of politicians, 
and gentlemen interested in public questions, who meet every Saturday at 
one of the chief hotels (Young's or Parker^s), to dine together, and discuss at 
the same time such matters of public policy and party tactics as may be of 
interest and importance. The first of these organizations was begun, 
informally, in 1848, by Frank W, Bird, who was accustomed to invite a 
number of gentlemen to dine together every Saturday afternoon. Twenty- 
five years later, the "Bird Dinner" was formally organized into the Bird 
Club, which includes men prominent in each of the great political parties, 
as well as several vigilant independents. The Massachusetts Club is an 
offshoot of the Bird Club, and was founded in 1873, with Dr. Samuel G. 
Howe as president. Claflin, Boutwell, Rice, Long, Beard, Loring, Worth- 
ington, Marden, and other Republican chieftains, are included in its rolls of 
membership. The club-rooms are at Young's Hotel. The Boston Club 
was organized in 1858, by friends of Gov. Banks, and bore his name for 
over twenty years, when, at his solicitation, the name was changed to 
" Boston." It is a large club, and has very brilliant " ladies' nights." 

The Middlesex, Essex, and Norfolk Clubs are composed of persons 
prominent in the public life of those counties, and who have different stated 
meetings at the Boston hotels, for the purpose of dining and discussing. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



271 



Wc^t Insurance ©ffices. 

LIFE, FIRE, MARINE, ACCIDENT, AND OTHER INSURANCE 
COMPANIES. 

TO the insurance companies Boston is greatly indebted, not only for the 
protection afforded her commercial interests and" the aid rendered 
widows and orphans, but also for several of the finest edifices in this country. 
And probably no class of edifices attract more attention, or cause deeper 
interest to the thoughtful mind, than the various insurance offices, the archi- 
tectural beauty of which is simply the outward show of the grand success 
that has attended the institutions in carrying on their humane work on sound 
and healthy principles of insurance. The close margins on which business 
in general is now conducted do not allow the individual to hazard his person 
or his property to any possible loss without taking some additional protec- 
tion. And therefore we have insurance providing for loss caused not only 
by death, by fire, and by the perils of navigation, but also by sickness, by 
bodily injuries, by explosion of steam-boilers, by the breakage of plate-glass 
windows, by lightning, and by burglary. The various insurance companies 
having become quite numerous, the Commonwealth in 1855 assumed critical 
supervision over them, and created the insurance department, from whose 
30th annual report (for 1885) we find that 190 insurance companies were au- 
thorized to do business in Massachusetts, nearly all of them represented in 
Boston. The following interesting table is compiled from the reports of 
John K. Tarbox, State insurance commissioner. 



No. 



Classification. 



Gross Assets, 
Jan. I, 1885. 



Income, 



Risks Written, Losses Paid 



MassacJntsetts Companies, - 

Mutual Marine 

Mutual Fire 

Joint Stock Fire and Marine 

Life 

Mutual Boiler 



No7i-Massachnsctts Co.'s, — 
Fire and Marine, other States . 

I Life, other States 

U. S. branches of foreign Co.'s 

Plate-glass 

Accident . 

Steam-boiler 

Surety 

Fidelity and Casualty . . , 



$1,354,956 
22,244,688 
12,152,810 
35>797.667 
5,301 



132,968,494 

441,687,063 

33,829,477 

386,282 

2,349,906 

748,968 

820,468 

505>093 



$684,841,173 



$412,370 
2,981,077 
5,941,383 
6,735,395 
6,567 



62,344,688 

88,134,767 

27,527,306 

239,738 

2,490,429 

405,790 

208,138 

428,757 



$197,856,405 



$22,087,319 
266,685,068 

455,811,349 

19,816,636 

817,500 



5,428,285,787 

293.533,853 

3,295,230,915 

7,691,175 

268,669,608 

34,307,641 

31,976,663 

52,968,411 



)io,i77,t 



,925 



$275,877 
862,516 

3,749,733 
1,957,402 
None. 



34,409 

23,102 

17,473 

87 

1,071 

16, 



140 
753 
,676 

2x6 

,568 
033 

,291 

,318 



$73,247,524 



2 72 I^nVG'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

These figures will probably show, even to the casual observer, the 
formidable insurance interest represented in Boston. 

Life-insurance in America virtually gained its foothold in Boston ; for 
the first statistics gathered that were ultimately used as its basis was a com- 
plete table of American life, framed in 1789 by Prof. Edward Wiggleswortb 
of Harvard College. This table was subsequently adopted by the Supreme 
Court of Massachusetts as a rule in estimating the value of life-estates. In 
181 1 the Massachusetts General Hospital was established; and the mana- 
gers were authorized to grant annuities ; which was done until an arrange- 
ment was made in 1823 with the Massachusetts Hospital Life-Insurance 
Company, chartered in 1818, to, which the business of granting annuities 
was transferred on a royalty for the hospital of one-third the net profits of 
the new company. In 1823 Phillips's " Law of Life Insurance," the first 
American work of its kind, was published in Boston. The New-England 
Mutual Life-Insurance Company was the second company to obtain a charter 
from the Commonwealth; and, although chartered in 1835, it did not begin 
business for several years afterwards, as it was hindered by the hard times, 
and encumbered with the royalty which was required of all life-insurance 
companies, of one-third the profits to the hospital. In 1844 the State 
Mutual Life-Insurance Company of Worcester was incorporated. In 1846 
the law regarding payment to the hospital was construed to require only 
one-third of the net profits after the payment of a six-per-cent dividend to 
the stockholders ; and since that time four life-insurance companies have 
been chartered by the State. To the credit of the Commonwealth it can 
be said, that none of the hfe-insurance companies chartered by it have ever 
failed or discontinued. Although it is not within the scope of this work to 
consider the many laws that have been enacted relative to insurance, it cer- 
tainly is pardonable to mention the "non-forfeiture law," which, enacted in 
1 86 1, provides that life-insurance companies shall continue their policies in 
force until all premiums that have been paid are wholly exhausted, whether 
the assured pays his annual premium or not. The still stronger and better 
non-forfeiture law of 1880 takes effect on all future policies to protect the 
interests of the assured. 

The Massachusetts Hospital Life-insurance Company, referred to above, 
is still in successful operation ; but its business is chiefly confined to trusts 
and annuities, and, in fact, it transacts no hfe-insurance business in its 
modern forms. The office of the company is at No. 50 State Street ; and 
its officers are William Minot president, Samuel C. Cobb actuary, J. C. 
Braman secretary. Its paid-up capital is $500,000; and its gross assets, 
including its trust-funds, are nearly $18,000,000. The company during the 
past half-century has paid the hospital a large amount of money. Nathaniel 
Bowditch, the first actuary, and in fact the originator of the company, re- 
mained in its service for many years. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 273 

The New-England Mutual Life of Boston was the first company char- 
tered in America, to do a life-insurance business in its modern forms; and 
its career from the beginning has been one of continued prosperity. The 
company began with a cash capital of $50,000, being 50 per cent of a 
guaranty capital that was withdrawn in 1853; and Jan. i, 1885, its assets 
amounted to $17,077,072.41. In 1884 its income was $2,866,646.59; and its 
disbursements were $2,582,751, of whi«h $2,176,901.54 was paid to policy- 
holders for losses, distributions of surplus, and cancelled policies. From 
these figures it is seen that the New-England Mutual Life-Insurance Com- 
pany, both by virtue of its assets and the extent of its operations, is one of 
the largest corporations of New England. Its remarkable success is due 
to several causes, but especially to its policy of management. Competent 
men are carefully chosen for ofificers and employes, and then they are con- 
stantly retained by the company. The first president, Willard Phillips, — 
an author of several standard insurance works, — served for 23 years. His 
successor is Benjamin F. Stevens, who has been president for the past 19 
years, and had previously been secretary for 17 years, and vice-president for 
2 years. Mr. Stevens has therefore been connected with this company for 
38 consecutive years, and his term of service for one insurance company is 
longer than that of any other life-insurance officer in America. The first 
secretary held the office for 4 years ; the second, Mr. Stevens, for 17 years; 
and the present secretary, Joseph M. Gibbens, was elected 20 years ago, 
after a previous connection with this company of 15 years. The other offi- 
cers include S. F. Trull, assistant secretary; Dwight Foster, counsel; Wal- 
ter C. Wright, actuary; John Homans, medical examiner; and George W. 
Thompson, superintendent of agencies. The liberal and equitable non- 
forfeiture law of Massachusetts is printed in every policy; and a table of 
the paid-up insurance and cash surrender value enjoined by it is written in 
any policy on application. No insurance company in tlie world has a better 
record for able management, and equitable settlement of claims. 

In 1874 the company erected, on Post-office Square, its present building, 
which, together with the adjoining building, forms the handsomest block in 
New England. The facades, in the Renaissance style, are of granite, five 
stories high, and are surmounted with an iron roof containing two stories. 
The frontage is 50 feet on Post-office Square, 181 on Congress Street, 69 
feet in the rear, ahd 68 feet in an area. The floor surface is 10,257 square 
feet. All floors and the roof are constructed of iron beams and brick 
arches, and there are 22 large burglar and fire proof safes in the building. 
The first floor has three wide entrances, — one on Post-office Square, and 
two on Congress Street, — with spacious halls leading to a wide and easy 
stairway. On this floor are five large banking-rooms. On the second floor 
are the company's offices, amply provided with all the conveniences neces- 



2 74 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

sary to conduct its extensive and increasing business. The other stories 
are divided into offices, some of the choicest in the city. The rooms and 
floors are provided with electric bells and speaking-tubes for communica- 
tion to and from all parts of the building. The Whittier elevator is run, 
and the heating apparatus supplied, with steam from boilers placed, for addi- 
tional securit}', under an area away from the building. The architect was 
Nathaniel J. Bradlee. 

Among the many occupants of the New-England Life building, are the 
Everett National Bank, of which Warren Sawyer is president and George 
E. Carr cashier ; the National Webster Bank, P^rancis A. Peters president, 
and Charles L. Riddle cashier; the National Hide and Leather Bank; the 
Park Commissioners of the City of Boston ; and the Boston Water Power 
Company, Jarvis D. Braman president. The American Bank Note Company 
have their office, designing, engraving, and printing rooms in this building. 
The company have been tenants of the New-England Life-Insurance Com- 
pany for nearly 30 years. The manager of the business is Benjamin C. 
Leonard. Elsewhere in this huge building are to be found the offices of 
many leading lawyers, architects, and mills. Among the latter are the Merri- 
mack Manufacturing Company, Charles H. Dalton treasurer; the Atlantic 
Cotton Mills, William Gray, jun., treasurer; the Great Falls Manufacturing 
Company; the Everett Mills; the Manchester Mills; the Fiskdale Mills; 
and the Pacific Mills, Henry Saltonstall treasurer. The basement was 
constructed expressly for, and is now occupied by, the Boston Safe Deposit 
and Trust Company, and is amply fortified and defended by all the appli- 
ances of modern ingenuity, to baffle the skill of burglars. Vast amounts of 
treasure, in various forms, are kept in these strong and secure fastnesses. 

The John Hancock Mutual Life-insurance Company of Boston was 
chartered in 1861, as the exponent of the Massachusetts non-forfeiture law, 
and was the first company to pay a loss under that law, which compels the 
continuance of a policy in force until the policy-holder has received the full 
benefits of the premiums paid by him. The assets of the company approach 
$3,000,000, and the gross payments to policy-holders amount to more than 
^4,000,000. During the year 1877 the company introduced the " Industrial 
Plan," the object of which is to present to the laboring and industrial 
classes a form of insurance within their reach, that they may be benefited 
to an extent within their ability to pay. The plan has received the indorse- 
ment of insurance experts and the press. This company, through its by- 
laws, requires the policy-holders, with the aid of experts, to examine its 
condition at least once each year. During the past four years, twenty 
different persons not connected with the management of the company have 
made such examinations. The president, Hon. Stephen H. Rhodes, was 
for six years connected with the insurance department of the Commonwealth 




Building of tlic 

NEW-ENGLAND MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE CO., 

Post-Office Square, Boston. 



Benj. F. Stevens, President. 



Joseph M. Gibbens, Secretary. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 275 

of Massachusetts ; and the secretary, George B. Woodward, was for six 
years connected with the New-England Mutual Life-Insurance Company 
of Boston. The insurance department says that there is no American 
life-insurance company making more rapid progress to-day than the John 
Hancock Life-Insurance Company. The office is in Sears Building, corner 
Court and Washington Streets. 

The Mutual Life of New York, which was the first life-insurance com- 
pany to begin operations in the United States, is to-day the largest moneyed 
institution in America, and the largest corporation in the world. The com- 
pany's assets are $20,000,000 larger than those of the Bank of England. Its 
gross assets are $104,000,000, and it has paid to policy-holders the enormous 
sum of $185,000,000. As it was organized in 1843, these payments are at the 
rate of over $4,000,000 per year, and $13,000 per day, holidays and Sundays 
included. The number of policies in force, Dec. 31, 1884, was 114,804; and 
the amount of insurance covered by them was $352,000,000. The income 
for 1884 was $19,095,318. These figures barely convey an idea i)f the 
magnitude of the Mutual Life Company or its operations ; but they do show- 
that the company is justly entitled to own the most elegant structures in 
which to transact its business. Buildings had been erected in New York 
and Philadelphia; and it was thought advisable to erect one in Boston that 
would not only suitably accommodate its extensive New-England business, 
but also prove a profitable investment. Accordingly one of the most 
eligible sites was selected; and now the building stands on Milk Street, 
majestically fronting Post-office Square. From almost every part of the 
city and harbor, its marble tower, with gilded balcony, can be seen as an 
architectural monument of the company's success, that was achieved by 
honesty, industry, economy, and abilit)'. This superb white-marble edifice 
is said to be the finest and most complete building of its kind on this conti- 
nent, and, together with the adjoining building, makes unquestionably the 
handsomest and most imposing block in New England. To enter into the 
details of its construction would require more space than can be allotted 
here. The total height of the tower, the gilded crests, and the iron flagstaff, 
is 234 feet. From the balcony, 198 ft. 6 in. above the sidewalk, can be 
obtained the best possible view of Boston and its surroundings. The clock 
is an interesting feature. It has four dials, each 10 ft. 6 in. in diameter; 
and the hands are 5 ft. 3 in. long. The striking-hammer weighs 150 lbs., 
and the bell 3,700 lbs. The clock pendulum is 15 feet long; and the three 
immense weights of 2,500 lbs., together with their chains, extend 45 feet 
below the dials. The windmg-up of the clock, every eighth day, requires 
two stout men, who laboriously turn a crank 241 times for each weight. 
The building is strictly fireproof, and contains seven floors, including the 
basement. Among the occupants of the first floor is the Boston National 



276 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



Bank, of which James H. Bouve is jDresident. This bank has a cash capital 
of $1,000,000, and is the United-States Depository. The Eagle Bank, the 
Bank of the Republic, and the Eliot Bank, are also domiciled in this vast 

palace of finance. On 
the second floor is 
the elegant office of 
Cornelius G. Att- 
wood, the general 
agent for Massachu- 
setts of the Mutual 
Life. 

The American Bell 
Telephone Company, 
and the Atchison. 
Topeka, and Santa 
Fe Railroad, occupy 
the chambers above. 
The Mutual Life is 
purely mutual. Ex- 
Gov. A. H. Rice and 
George C. Richard- 
son are the Boston 
trustees. 

The Connecticut 
Mutual Life-insur- 
ance Compan}'- of 
Hartford, Conn., was 
organized in 1846. 
Jacob L. Greene is 
president; John M. 
Taylor, vice-presi- 
dent ; and William 
G. Abbot, secretary. 
The Connecticut 
3.iUtual is the largest 
insurance company, 
and the largest finan- 
cial institution, in 
New England. Its 
management has been characterized by the utmost economy, and has 
returned a larger average per cent of dividends to premiums than any 
other company. Since its organization it has received from policy-holders 




l^^SZ'Z^'^^^ M 



Mutual Life Insurance Co s building, Post-office Square. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



277 



$I37»558,4785 and has returned to its members and their beneficiaries 
$112,253,250, or nearly 82 per cent. "The Spectator" of New York says, 
" There is no life company that can make a better showing, and in some 
respects no company can ?nake a showing so good.'" Jan. i, 1885, it had 
solid assets amounting to $53,430,032 ; and its surplus, reckoned by a higher 
standard than that adopted by any other company, was $4,121,824. The 
company's "new contract " is believed to be "the safest, the most valuable, 
and most liberal ever written." Daniel W. Kilburn is creneral agent for 
Massachusetts, with offices at No. 172 Devonshire Street, Boston. 

The Equitable Life-Assurance Society of New York has erected on 
the corner of Milk 
and Devonshire 
Streets, one of the 
grandest and most 
substantial busi- 
ness edifices in this 
country. It is one 
of the most-fre- 
quented places in 
the city. The three 
comfortable eleva- 
tors, incased in 
brick walls, carry 
up and down about 
3,000 persons every 
day; while the Se- 
curity Safe Depos- 
it Vaults in the 
basement, and the 
several leadini^^ 
banks on the first 
floor, cause thou- 
sands of persons to 
enter the building 
daily. On the up- 
per floors are tht 
offices of severa 
great railroad com 

■^ Equ table L fe Assu a ce Soc e y s Bu Id ng M Ik Street 

panies and the 

Equitable Life-Assurance Society. From the roof, accessible to all, can be 
obtained one of the most picturesque views of Boston and its surroundings. 
The signal service has been removed to the new Post Office opposite. On 




278 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

the whole, this building, its interior and exterior, is one of the sights of 
Boston. In 1885 it was enlarged so that it extends across the entire block 
from Devonshire Street to Federal Street, the new part being in the same 
architecture as the main building. 

There are also many agencies for life-insurance companies organized in 
other States, and for companies chartered by this State. 

Fire and Marine Insurance was effected in Boston as far back certainly 
as 1724, but the business for many years was done only by individuals. The 
first company chartered by the Commonwealth was the Massachusetts Fire 
and Marine Insurance Company, in 1795; which continued until 1848, when 
its charter was revoked. In 1798 the Massachusetts Mutual Fire-Insurance 
Company, and in 1799 the Boston Insurance Company, were chartered. 
During the present century the formation of companies has been constant. 
From many causes, and especially the Great Fire of 1872, a large number 
of the fire and marine companies have disappeared from the surface. For 
losses in that fire, $60,000,000 were paid by the insurance companies doing 
business in Boston. Without this money to aid in the rebuilding of the 
city, it is difficult to see what would have become of Boston. To the fire- 
underwriters also is due the formation and support of the Boston Protective 
Department mentioned in another chapter. 

Before 1872 most of the fire-insurance of Boston was carried by the local 
companies; but the disastrous results of "carrying too many eggs in one 
basket" showed the necessity of looking, not only to Boston, but to the 
world, for capital to meet the calamities that can befall the city through 
extensive conflagrations. A large part of the losses by the Great Fire were 
paid by the companies of other States and countries then doing business 
here ; and for that reason the preference over local companies was given 
them by insurers. Since then a large number of companies, some from 
various parts of Europe and North America, with great capitals, have 
established agencies in Massachusetts. The Great Fire made another 
notable change, by making this city the headquarters for New England of 
many of the largest foreign and American companies; and their trusted and 
experienced general agents and adjusters settled here, and became active 
citizens, interested equally with the officers of the local companies in every 
thing that is advantageous to Boston. Man}- of these men have joined the 
ranks of the local agents. The insurance agents generally are men of 
standing, energy, and intelligence, whose persistency in conducting their 
business has become proverbial. There are now so many companies and 
agencies with whom parties seeking large lines of insurance would have to 
deal, if they tried to effect their own insurance, that the necessity of having 
some person transact the business of the assured with the companies has 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 279 

brought forward a class of men called " brokers." These seek to control 
the insurance of firms, and to divide it among the various offices, the latter 
paying them commissions. Their duty to the assured is to see that the 
policies intended to cover the same property are concurrent and correctly 
worded, and that the insurance is effected in reliable companies at proper 
rates. Many agents also act as brokers, and take care of the full line of 
insurance carried by their patrons, placing in other agencies whatever they 
cannot place in their own. In the "Boston Directory" there is a list of 
nearly 250 " insurance agents," many of whom do partly or exclusively a 
brokerage business. 

The Boston companies, whose policies are now sought for all over the 
country, have scattered their business ; and what they lose in amount bv 
the competition on local business, they more than regain by their own com- 
petition elsewhere. The wisdom of this policy must be plain ; for now, in 
case of large fires, with agencies scattered over the country, the companies, 
although they should lose their whole assets, could, possibly, pay their losses 
as fast as adjusted, by means of the premiums coming in from other parts. 

The Boston Fire-Underwriters' Union was formed as the result of a 
combination of the Board of Fire-Insurance Companies and the Board of 
Insurance Agents that had previously existed. Its original purpose was to 
establish and enforce uniform rates of premium; but after the Great Fire of 
1872 it influenced the introduction of many fire-defences, by means of which 
both the old and the new sections of the city are made more secure against 
fire. At present its chief work is to gather and circulate facts of all kinds 
interesting to fire-underwriters. Its membership includes almost all agents 
and local companies. The president is Joseph W. Balch, and the secretary 
Osborne Howes, jun. The office is at 35 Congress Street. 

The American Insurance Company and the Mercantile Marine Insurance 
Company were the only two Boston joint-stock fire-and-marine companies 
that at the time of the Great Fire, in 1872, not only paid their losses in full, 
but also kept their capital intact and held a surplus besides. The American 
was incorporated in 181 8. The main causes of escaping the general calam- 
ity were its careful selection of risks, and its large reserve funds, which, 
with its capital, amounted in 1872 to over $900,000. Notwithstanding the 
accumulation of a reserve, the American never failed, up to that time, to pay 
its semi-annual dividends, which have reached 30% a year. Since the Great 
Fire, which cost the American nearly $500,000, the company, in pursuance 
of its admirable policy of accumulating a large reserve fund for the protec- 
tion of the policy-holders, passed its dividends for a few years ; but they 
have since been resumed, and now always reach 10% a year, — the largest 
percentage allowed by law. The assets of the company, Jan. i, 18S5, were 
$578,231 ; the capital, $300,000; the surplus, $153,681; and the liabilities, 



28o KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

$124,550. The par value of the stock is $100; and the market value, based 
on the last sales, is $132. The American is the only Boston fire-insurance 
company owning, exclusively, its own office-building. Its first president 
was Francis J. Oliver, who held the office 18 years. His successor for 28 
vears was J. Ingersoll Bowditch, the son of Nathaniel Bowditch, whom he 
aided in making the calculations of the famous Navigators Tables. The 
third president, Charles Eliot Guild, was in office 9 years. He is the 
brother-in-law of President Eliot of Harvard University, and is to-day the 
general agent of the Liverpool and London and Globe Insurance Company 
of England. The fourth and present president is PVancis Peabody, who 
has held the office since 1873. The directors are: Francis Peabody, Wil- 
liam Perkins, George B. Chase, Charles J. Morrill, John F. Anderson, J. 
Murray Forbes, R. D. Rogers, George A. Gardner, W. M. Whitney, Jacob C. 
Rogers, S. Z. Silsbee, Alfred Bowditch,"and Harcourt Amory. The secre- 
tary, elected in 1872, is Joseph W. Field. The office of the American In- 
surance Company is at No. 45 State Street. 

The Mercantile Fire and Marine Insurance Company was mentioned 
in the sketch of the American Insurance Company as one of the only two 
Boston joint-stock fire-and-marine companies, that, after paying in full their 
losses by the Great Fire of 1872, were left with a surplus over their cash 
capitals. The Mercantile Marine for over half a century has ranked among 
the foremost marine insurance companies of New England. It confined its 
business to marine risks until 1871, when it began to take fire risks. The 
company was chartered in 1823, and has always been successful. Its cash 
dividends have averaged over 10% a year. Moreover, in 1876, out of its 
large surplus it made a stock dividend of $100,000, by which its capital stock 
was increased to $400,000. Its assets are $700,000, its surplus nearly $180,- 
000, and its liabilities about $115,000. The Mercantile Marine is known as 
one of the most conservative companies. Its fire-insurance is confined 
chiefly to the best class of risks, and is scattered throughout the United 
States by means of agents in the principal cities. Since 1824 there have 
been only four presidents: Joseph Baker, 12 years, 1824-36; Nathaniel 
Meriam, 27 years, 1836-63; Stephen H. Bullard, 10 years, 1863-73; and 
George R. Rogers, the present incumbent. Mr. Rogers has been connected 
with the company 25 years, — 7 years as secretary, — prior to his election as 
president July, 1873. ^- F. Field, jun., has been secretary since 1873. 
George R. Minot has been a director for the past 40 years. The company's 
office is at 58 State Street, the same place where it has been for 60 years. 
The old Custom-House stood on this site ; and when it was torn down, the 
Mercantile Marine Insurance Company became possessors of the two carved 
statues of "Hope" and "Justice" which stand in the office. In 1882, the 
name was changed to Mercantile Fire and Marine Insurance Company. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



281 



John C. Paige is the leading fire-insurance agent in Boston, — doing 
the largest business, and representing the greatest amount of capital. 
Moreover, his offices, which were wholly remodelled and newly furnished 
in October, 1880, at 20 Kilby Street, are unsurpassed for their elegance, 
convenience, and arrangement. Twelve years ago Mr. Paige was recognized 
by the profession throughout this country as a skilful adjuster of fire losses, 
and as an experienced general agent. Duties incident to the Great Fire of 
1872 brought him to this city, where he subsequently decided to establish 
a local insurance- _„ ^^^-^^ =.- -^_^ 

agency in connec- 
tion with his gen- 
eral agency busi- 
ness ; and to-day 
by reason of his 
great ability, 
varied experi- 
ence, extreme 
popularity, and in- 
domitable energy, 
he has placed 
himself in the 
foremost rank of 
the underwriters 
in the United 
States. The com- 
panies he repre- 
sents are the 
" Imperial Fire of 
London, Eng.," 
" Orient of Hart- 
ford Conn. " ^°^" ^" P^'Se. 20 Kilby Street. 
" The City of London Fire Insurance Company of England,' 
ciation of Philadelphia," " Niagara Fire of New York," and 
Insurance Company of Philadelphia." This agency's business extends 
throughout the United States, for Mr. Paige is the American general agent 
for the City of London Company. In the Boston office are upwards of fifty 
male and female employes, all arranged and equipped so as to do the 
greatest amount of work in the shortest time and with the least confusion. 
John C. Paige personally is one of those genial, whole-souled men, with 
whom it is always a pleasure to do business. " Nothing mean about him," 
never was more fitly applied to any man ; and his name is more favorably 
known to the Boston people than that of any other insurance-agent. 




' " Fire Asso- 
Mechanics 



282 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

The Boston Marine Insurance Company, incorporated in 1873, i^ ^he 
largest marine insurance company of any kind in New England, and the 
largest purely marine insurance company on the stock plan in the United 
States. It has a greater surplus over all liabilities than has any fire or marine 
insurance company in Massachusetts. Its assets exceed $2,000,000; while 
its liabilities are only about $600,000, of which about $400,000 are for pre- 
miums on risks not yet terminated. Its capital is $1,000,000, full paid. Its 
usual dividends are ten per cent a year, and the market-value of its stock is 
fifty per cent above its par value. The net earnings of the company have 
averaged, since the commencement of its business, $100,000 a year, less 
than one-half of which has been divided among its stockholders, the balance 
being placed to surplus account. The business of the company is exclu- 
sively marine and inland msurance on hulls and cargoes. The offices in 
Boston are on the first floor of the First National Bank Building, No. 17 
State Street, corner of Devonshire ; and the offices in New York are at No. 
43 Wall Street. The president of the company is Ransom B. Fuller, who 
was its chief organizer, and who has been its only president. Its other 
officers are Herbert Fuller, vice-president ; Charles A. Fuller, second vice- 
president ; Thomas H. Lord, secretary ; Ward Williams, assistant secretary ; 
and Freeman Nickerson, second assistant secretary. 

Two of the most interesting features of the modern insurance business 
are the mutual fire-insurance companies and the assessment societies. The 
former are in the enjoyment of a high degree of prosperity, and have 
accumulated large surplus funds. There are 33 of these companies, only 
6 of which have ever called assessments; a fact which shows how almost 
uniformly the receipts exceed the outlays. So popular has this method of 
protection become, that it has been taken up by the chief manufacturing 
interests of Boston, and also by scores of companies in the cities and towns 
ol Massachusetts. 

There are now a large number of beneficiary and assessment insurance 
companies in operation here, transacting an extensive business. The Massa- 
chusetts report for 1885 mentions 92 of these mutual-aid societies, with 
113,635 certificates in force in this State. Of these associations, 11 are 
Masonic, 14 Odd-Fellows, and 42 business associations. The amount of 
insurance covered by the certificates is not ascertainable, but it runs far up 
into the millions. The Legislature has tried in every way to safeguard this 
class of insurance, so very valuable if hedged about with guaranties, but so 
dangerous if controlled by irresponsible or injudicious persons. 

The fire losses in Massachusetts in 1884 amounted to $4,704,871, nearly 
a quarter of which was due to incendiarism. There were 2,011 fires, 307 of 
which were from fire communicated outside. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



283 












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KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON 285 



STfje JFinancial JTitstituttong;. 

NATIONAL AND SAVINGS BANKS, BANKERS, SAFE-DEPOSIT AND 
TRUST COMPANIES. 

THE first bank in America was established in Boston. It began 
a three-years' course in 1686, and loaned money on real and per- 
sonal estate and imperishable merchandise. The second American bank 
was opened in this city in 1714. It issued $400,000 of scrip, called "mer- 
chants' notes," which sustained a good credit while the bank passed through 
its short career. In 1740 "The Land Bank" was organized by 700 or 800 
persons, to afford relief at a time of scarcity of specie. The "Specie 
Bank" was in operation at the same time. They were only the stepping 
stones to the solid banks that were founded later. 

In 1782 a branch of the Bank of North America, a Philadelphian insti- 
tution, was incorporated by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. This 
institution was a signal success, and after it were modelled many banks 
organized in the commercial cities of the United States^ The first bank 
firmly established in Boston, and the second in America, was the Massa- 
chusetts Bank, chartered in 1784. From that time the history of the finan- 
cial institutions is somewhat voluminous, and we shah have to pass on to 
a cursory glance at those of to-day. Boston has 59 national banks, a larger 
number than any other city in the United States. They have a cash capital 
of $52,000,000, about the same amount as the total capital of the New- York 
City national banks. Their surplus amounts to over $12,000,000. Thirty 
banks of the city of Boston have cash capitals of $1,000,000, or more, each; 
and the banks of no other city in' the world can make a similar showing. 

The chief banks and banking-houses are in the vicinity of State Street, 
and around the Post Office, and in the wholesale-business district; and 
several of them have very handsome and stately buildings, sumptuously 
furnished, and abounding in ofiices. There was but one failure among the 
Boston banks in the great financial panic of 1857; and the subsequent 
periods of commercial depression have been safely passed through by these 
strong and conservative institutions, whose destinies have been watched 
over by sagacious directors and well-tried officials. Even when the banks 
of the other great cities have been in a shaking condition, these have stood 
fast, bravely sustaining the credit of the merchants of Boston. 

To give a mere outline of the history of these banks, would require too 



286 AGING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

much space for a work of this kind. A complete Hst of them and their 
officers will be found on the following pages. Prominent among the great 
number of banks in Boston noted for their sound financial basis, ranks — 

The Merchants National Bank, chartered in 1831 as the Merchants 
Bank. In July of the same year it \vent into operation with a capital of 
$500,000. In 1833 the Secretary of the United-States Treasury selected it 
as a depository of the public moneys; and in 1841, when the United-States 
Sub-treasury was abolished, this bank was again chosen as depository, and 
was at that time the only Boston bank to receive government deposits. In 
1835 the bank purchased from the United-States Bank the site of its present 
building on State Street. The ground covers an area of 8,000 square feet, 
and the property is assessed on $600,000. The bank has increased its capi- 
tal successively to $750,000, $1,500,000, $2,000,000, $2,500,000, $3,000,000, 
and $4,000,000. In 1864 it began business as a national bank with a capital 
of $3,000,000, and authority to increase it to $6,000,000. It has paid regu- 
larly semi-annual dividends since it commenced business. It has issued 
since 1835 no bill of a lower denomination than $5. Its capital of $3,000,- 
000 is the largest in New England, and is $1,000,000 larger than that of any 
other bank in Boston. Its circulation is $2,000,000, and its surplus upwards 
of $1,000,000. Franklin Haven, jun., is president. The cashier is George 
R. Chapman; and the directors are Howard Stockton, Franklin Haven, jun., 
Nathaniel Thayer, T. Jefferson Coolidge, J. F. Anderson, Abbott Lawrence, 
and George A. Gardner. 

The National Revere Bank of Boston was organized May 3, 1859, under 
the general banking law, as the Revere Bank. July i, 1865, it re-organized 
under the national banking law, and assumed its present title. At first 
it occupied a part of the second floor in the granite building owned by 
the Sears Estate, and situated on the corner of Franklin and Devonshire 
Streets. The Great Fire of 1872 destroyed the building, but all the bank's 
books and papers \vere saved. Temporary quarters were then secured in 
the Sears Building on Washington Street, corner of Court Street. There 
the bank continued business until the completion (July i, 1874) of the beau- 
tiful marble building on the site of the bank's former rooms. In this new- 
building — corner of Devonshire and Franklin Streets — the first floor was 
specially finished for the National Revere Bank, and provided with the most 
approved fire and burglar proof safes, as well as all conveniences for bank 
business. The capital originally w^as $600,000; but a few months after the 
bank began business it was increased to $1,000,000, and subsequently it was 
fixed at its present amount, $1,500,000. Samuel H. Walley, the first presi- 
dent, continued in office until his death, Aug. 27, 1877. His successor was 
Samuel C. Cobb, who held the position until March 30, 1878, when he was 
succeeded by George S. Bullens. The first cashier, John W. Lefavour, 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 287 

resigned June 6, 1869, by reason of ill health; and H. Blasdale, who has 
been connected with the bank from the time of its organization, was 
elected. The list of directors has always included the names of Boston's 
most active and most successful business men, and at present the list is as 
follows : George S. Bullens, Osmyn Brewster, Joseph Sawyer, John Cowdin, 
James A. Woolson, Samuel Parkman Dexter, Gorham Rogers, George P. 
Denny, John C. Potter, Franklin E. Gregory. Charles E. Raymond, George 
A. Alden. 

The Atlas National Bank w^as incorporated as early as tlie year 1833. 
and became a national bank in 1864. The ofhces of the bank are in the 
Sears Building, at the head of State Street, and are handsomely and attrac- 
tively fitted up with all the modern conveniences for transacting business. 
The Atlas started with a capital of $500,000, which was afterwards increased 
to $1,000,000, and then to the present capital of $1,500,000, with a privilege 
of increasing to $2,000,000. Its headquarters for twenty-five years were 
at the corner of Kilby and State Streets, on the location of the present 
Atlantic Bank. The bank transacts a general mercantile business, and has 
for over half a century enjoyed the confidence and favor of the foremost 
merchants and financiers of Boston. During its fifty-two years of existence 
the Atlas has had but two cashiers, — Josepli White, who held the office 
from 1833 to 1850; and Charles L. Lane, the present incumbent, who has 
been cashier for more than a third of a century. The capital of the Atlas 
National Bank is $1,500,000. The president is John G. Wetherell; Charles 
L. Lane is cashier, and Benjamin P. Lane is assistant cashier. The direct- 
ors are Mahlon D. Spalding, John G. Wetherell, Thomas B. Wales, 
Charles M. Clapp, Frederick L. Richardson, George B. Gavett, George K. 
Guild, Henry Woods, and David Nevins. 

The Boston National Bank was organized as the National Bank of Bos- 
ton, June 4, 1853, with a capital of $300,000; which on April 25, 1854, was 
increased to $750,000, and on Dec. i, 1868, was further increased to $1,000,- 
000. April 8, 1864, it organized as a national bank, under the title of the 
Boston National Bank. It has been a United-States depository since its 
organization as a national bank. James H. Bouve was elected cashier, Sep- 
tember, 1^78; vice-president Januar}-, 1883; president. May, 1883. D. B. 
Hallett was elected cashier in January, 1883. Both the president and the 
cashier have been in the employ of the bank for thirty years. 

The directors of the Boston National Bank are James H. Bouve, Ezra 
Farnsworth, David L. Webster, Charles S. Kendall, Cyrus Wakefield, 
Lyman Nichols, Silas Pierce, and W. H. West. Its offices and banking- 
rooms are in the magnificent marble building of the Mutual Life Insurance 
Company of New York, at 95 Milk Street, and fronting on Post-OfBce 
Square. 



288 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



Richardson, Hill, & Co., one of the leading banking-houses of Boston, 
occupy spacious and handsomely furnished rooms in the Simmons Building, 
at the corner of Devonshire and Water Streets, and opposite the Post Office. 
This firm was organized Oct. i, 1869, by Messrs. Spencer W. Richardson, 
William H. Hill, jun., and Edward D. Adams, and opened its office in the 
Sears Building, at the head of State Street. Mr. Richardson had advanced 
from a clerkship in the Boston and Maine Railroad office to a position in 
the Laconia and Pepperell companies, and the treasurership of the Saco 
Water-power Machine-shop Company. Mr. Hill had made a comfortable 
little fortune in a few years from the book and stationery business, which he 

carried on in a store on 
the historic old Cornhill. 
The third partner in the 
original firm of Richard- 
son, Hill, & Co. was Ed- 
ward D. Adams, who went 
out in 1878, to enter the 
firm of Winslow, Lanier. 
& Co. of New York. In 
the same year Messrs. 
Richardson, Hill, & Co. 
admitted to partnership 
Mr. Henry W. Dodd, for- 
merly connected with one 
of the banks at Bangor, 
and afterwards cashier in 
this house. Two years 
later (Oct. i, 1880) the 
firm took into partnership 
Messrs. Frank E. James 
and George A. Farlow, 
who had been connected 
with the establishment, in 
clerical capacities, respectively from 187 1 and 1873. 

The firm of Richardson, Hill, & Co., founded with a small capital, and 
on the edge of a national financial panic, has gone steadily forward, winning 
a high reputation for good management and fair dealing, and expanding its 
volume of business to vast dimensions. The long period of stagnation in 
trade which followed the panic of 1873 ^^'^^ successfully encountered by the 
young house ; and, in the subsequent eager and intense competition, they 
occupied and maintained a very favorable position, continually augmenting 
their resources and enlarging their field of operations. In addition to the 




Simmons Building Water and Congress Streets 
Hill & Company 



Richardson 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 2S9 

banking and brokerage business carried on here, the office of Richardson, 
Hill, & Co. has an interest to the general public from the fact that here are 
the headquarters of several important enterprises, in which the members of 
the firm have official positions. 

The firm has also been largely engaged in the matter of government 
credits, holding important positions in the syndicates formed. They are, 
moreover, agencies for the placing of city, county, and state bonds, and 
corporate and other loans ; and deal in the best investment securities rated 
on the stock exchange, buying and selling on orders in the different stock 
exchanges of the country, being connected with New York, Philadelphia, 
and Baltimore by private telegraph wire. They also buy and sell first-class 
commercial paper, the volume of their transactions in this line running up 
to millions annually. They have an extensive list of correspondents and 
agents, and all other requisites for the transaction of a prosperous business. 

Potter Lovell Company, dealers in commercial paper at 63 Federal 
Street, corner of Franklin Street, is a corporation organized under the State 
law^s of Massachusetts. It was incorporated Jan. i, 1885 (succeeding to 
the note business of the old firm of Potter, Lovell, & Co.), with a paid-up 
capital of $400,000. The president and largest stockholder is Walter Potter, 
who, though yet a young man, has been in the business for many years, and 
has a very large and extended acquaintance throughout the East and West, 
and hence has had the best of facihties for observing the course and general 
drift of trade, and is considered one of the best judges of credits in this line 
of business. The vice-president, Thomas G. Carson, has had a long and 
successful business experience, and is familiar with all branches of the 
banking business as well as mercantile affairs. W. D. Lovell, the treasurer 
of the company, has also had an experience of many years in this and 
collateral branches of business, and is well known throughout the trade, and 
is considered a first-class judge of credits. George W. Terrill, the secretary 
of the company, has had a valuable and successful career, and numbers 
among his acquaintance many of our leading merchants and financiers. 
This is the first corporation started in the State for dealing exclusively in 
commercial paper. Its transactions are very large, and extend all over the 
East and West, and the business done reaches the immense figures of 
upwards of fifty millions a year. Its offices are well arranged, and occupy 
a capital location near the centre of the business district. Customers find 
here a large line of notes of the leading concerns interested in the dry- 
goods, grocery, boot, shoe, and leather trades, as well as notes of manu- 
facturing corporations, cities and towns. 

The Savings Banks of America had their origin in this city. The first 
was The Provident Institution for Savings in the Town of Boston, chartered 



290 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



in 1816. To-day it has a larger amount of deposits than any similar insti- 
tution in this country, except one or two savings banks in New York. 
There are in Boston 16 savings banks, and a list of them is given on the 
preceding page. They are under the supervision of the commissioners of 
savings banks, an office created in 1866. Their investments and loans are 
restricted by law, and all their officers are sworn to the faithful perform- 
ance of their duties. The commissioners are empowered to examine the 
banks at any time, and are obliged to do so at least once a year. The 
'•stay law," passed in 1878, limits and restricts the payment of money to 
depositors, and was framed to provide against a "run " on the savings banks. 



Safe-Deposit Vaults. — Boston is now amply provided with safe-deposit 
vaults; but there was nothing of the kind in the city in 1868, when the 
attention of the public was first called to 

The Union Safe-Deposit Vaults, which had been constructed by Henry 




Union Building, State Street. 

Lee, to afford absolute protection for all kinds of valuables against loss by 
fire or burglary. The vaults were built in the basement of the Union Build- 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON 291 

ing, 40 State Street, and were of such a character, and had around them so 
many conveniences, that they excited the admiration and approval of the 
most competent judges. Henry Lee, of the banking-firm of Lee, Higgin- 
son, & Co., assumed the management, and George C. Lee v/as appointed 
sub-manager, positions that both have held ever since. The experience and 
observation of seventeen years have suggested various and accumulated 
safeguards, so that these vaults appear to be thoroughly secure against 
either fires or burglars. Safes are rented at from ten to one hundred dollars 
a year, for the accommodation of stocks, bonds, and other valuables of all 
kinds, and for the storage of plate and jewellery. The collection and remit- 
tance of interest and dividends are also attended to by this company; and 
interest is allowed on deposits of money subject to check at sight. The 
central position of these vaults, and their obvious invincibility, give them 
peculiar claims on the public attention, and have made them for these many 
years a favorite depository for valuables. The enterprise succeeded so well 
that other safe-deposit vaults have since been started. 

The Boston Safe-Deposit and Trust Company occupy the entire base- 
ment of the beautiful and fire-proof building of the New-England Mutual Life- 
insurance Company on Milk Street, corner of Congress Street. The vaults, 
built with the foundation of the building expressly for this company, cover 
nearly 3,000 square feet, and are the most massive in this country. Nothing 
is lacking to make them as safe, in every respect, as any vaults in the 
world. Safes in these vaults are rented at prices ranging from $10 to $150 
per year, and valuables of all kinds are received for safe-keeping. The 
Boston Safe-Deposit and Trust Co., as its name indicates, also has a trust 
department. It is empowered by its charter to act as trustee under wills in 
the same manner, and subject to the same control by the courts, as a legally 
qualified person. The State has made it a legal depositary of funds of 
executors, administrators, assignees, guardians, trustees, corporations, and 
individuals, and also of money and other property awaiting the action of 
courts. The officers and directors comprise a number of the most highly 
esteemed and wealthiest citizens of Boston. The president is Frederick M. 
Stone; the vice-presidents are Frederic W. Lincoln and Oliver Ditson; 
the directors are Nathaniel J. Bradlee, Benjamin F. Brooks, John Cum- 
mings, Oliver Ditson, James Longley, F. W. Lincoln, George C. Lord, 
Daniel Needham, Otis Norcross, John Felt Osgood, Royal M. Pulsifer, Wil- 
liam E. Putnam, M. Denman Ross, Nathaniel J. Rust, F. M. Stone, Henry 
S. Shaw, L. Miles Standish, Benjamin F. Stevens, Gerard C. Tobey, Thomas 
J. Whidden ; the treasurer is Frank C. Miles ; the manager of the safe-deposit 
department is Edward P. Bond. 

The Massachusetts Loan and Trust Company of Boston was granted in 
1870 a special charter authorizing the company to make advances on staple 



292 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

merchandise, and to receive, hold, collect, and disburse money, securities, or 
property in trust or otherwise, from individuals, executors, administrators, 
ti-uardians, trustees, or by order of court. It is also authorized to act as 
trustee or agent for any person, firm, corporation, state, or government; and 
in their behalf to sell or negotiate property of any kind, or to receive or 
invest money. The company has unsurpassed facilities for furnishing 
money at low rates of interest to merchants and manufacturers. Loans are 
made on staple merchandise, secured by bills of lading ox by warehouse 
receipts, upon terms so accommodating that the owner has the opportunity 
of disposing of the merchandise as readily as though it were under his own 
direct control. This company also undertakes to close out the affairs of 
estates, or business-houses in bankruptcy or liquidation, in the most expe- 
ditious manner, and on very favorable terms. Interest is allowed on all 
money deposited with the company. During the fifteen years since the 
organization of the Massachusetts Loan and Trust Company, it has not 
only afforded great aid to business-men by lending them money on favor- 
able terms, but it has also provided a profitable and safe means of invest- 
ment to individuals, corporations, executors, guardians, trustees, or assignees 
of bankrupt estates, by paying interest on deposits made either on fixed 
time or on demand. The corporation has a paid-up cash capital of $500,000, 
with liberty of increasing to $1,000,000. The president is Stephen M. 
Crosby, and the treasurer is Frank W. Reynolds. The ofiice occupies the 
first floor of the stone building No. 18 Post-ofiice Square. 

The American Loan and Trust Company, whose offices are at 55 
Congress Street, Boston, has a capital of $r,ooo,ooo. Ezra H. Baker is 
president, N. W. Jordan actuary, and E, A. Coffin treasurer. This company 
receives deposits subject to check, or payable on time, with interest at special 
rates, and is prepared to extend to its patrons all the facilities for business 
that may be required of a banking corporation. It is a legal depository for 
administrators, executors, assignees, trustees, and guardians ; acts as trustee 
under mortgages for railroads and other corporations ; also as transfer agent 
and registrar of stocks and bonds, and financial or other agent for corpora- 
tions and municipalities ; and loans and advances money upon satisfactory 
security. The directors of the company are Oliver Ames, Elisha Atkins, 
Isaac T. Burr, B. P. Cheney, F. Gordon Dexter, D. P. Kimball, Thomas 
Nickerson, S. E. Peabody, Fred L. Ames, John Ouincy Adams, A. L. Cool- 
idge, Henry D. Hyde, George C. Lord, William Minot, jun., R. E. Robbins, 
Alexander H. Rice, and Ezra H. Baker. 

The International Trust Company has its offices at No. 45 Milk Street, 
corner of Devonshire Street, Boston. It was incorporated in 1879. The 
cash capital is $500,000, and the surplus $100,000, besides which by the 
provisions of the charter the stockholders are personally liable for an 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 293 

additional amount equal to the capital stock. The directors are William 
Claflin, Charles Marsh, William A. Haskell, John C. Paige, William T. 
Parker, Charles R. Train, John Goldthwait, Patrick A. Collins, John M. 
Graham, Thomas F. Temple, Warren B. Potter, and William W. Crapo. 
John M. Graham is president, and Henry L. Jewett secretary. Interest is 
allowed on deposits subject to check, and special rates when payable at 
specified dates. The trust department is distinct from the general business ; 
is not subject to any other liability of the company; and, unlike that of any 
other trust company, is secured by a special trust guaranty fund, and also 
by the general capital and assets. It commends itself, by its permanency 
and security, over individual trustees, to those desiring to place property in 
trust by will or otherwise, or wishing to be relieved of the inconvenience 
and responsibility of trusts already created. 

The corporation transacts a general banking and trust-company busi- 
ness. It receives deposits subject to check ; discounts commercial paper ; 
loans on collaterals and staple merchandise ; and buys and sells exchange. 
It is also a legal depository for states, municipalities, savings banks, corpo- 
rations, or individuals, administrators, executors, trustees, guardians, and 
courts of law and equity ; and trustee under mortgages of railroads and 
other corporations, and registrar and transfer agent of the stock and bonds 
of incorporated companies. Fiscal agent for states, municipalities, rail- 
roads, and corporations, for the payment of bonds, coupons, dividends, etc. 
The trust department is secured by a special trust guaranty fund, for the 
acceptance of trusts under any will or instrument creating a trust, trust 
deposits, and the care and management of property and estates. Invest- 
ments in trust department are only such as the Massachusetts savings 
banks may invest in. 

The New-England Trust Company is the oldest chartered trust com- 
pany in Boston, having received its charter in the year 1869, at which time 
Amos A. Lawrence was elected its president. It has a capital of $500,000, 
and a guaranty fund of equal amount, and the charter allows that its capital 
may be increased to *^ 1,000,000. It acts as trustee under railroad mortgages, 
of which it holds -$90,000,000 ; is authorized to receive and hold money in trust 
and on deposit from courts of law and equity, executors, assignees, guard- 
ians, administrators, corporations, and individuals, and may be appointed 
by the probate court trustee under any will, and with such conditions as 
may be agreed upon. It also acts as transfer agent for stock corporations, 
etc. The institution receives money on deposit, subject to call, upon which 
interest is allowed. These deposits aggregate many millions. Its invest- 
ments are restricted by charter to U. S. bonds, New-England city and 
town loans, and such firm securities as savings banks are by law allowed to 
invest in. It makes annual returns to the Commonwealth, and is examined 



294 



K/NG'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



annually by the Massachusetts Savings-Bank Commissioner. The officers 
of the company are William Endicott, jun., president ; Charles H. Dalton, 
Henry P. Kidder, and H. A. Whitney, vice-presidents; David R. Whitney, 
actuary; and Nathaniel H. Henchman, secretary. The directors are T. 
Jefferson Coolidge, Jacob Edwards, Nathaniel J. Bradlee, C. U. Cotting, 
J. J. Storrow, Nathaniel Thayer, Frederick L. Ames, Alexander Cochrane, 
A. W. Stetson, J. Lewis Stackpole, Edmund Dwight, John F. Anderson, 
Charles F. Choate, Franklin Haven, jun., and Robert Codman. The offices 
of the corporation are at No. 85 Devonshire Street, corner of Water Street. 

The Boston Clearing-House Association, organized in 1856, is the sec- 
ond oldest organization of its kind in this country. The banks in former 
times were compelled to send messengers from one bank to another to 
collect and pay drafts and checks; and in so doing they were liable to 
incur great losses by the waylaying of messengers, and were put to con- 
siderable needless expense and trouble. Nowadays 52 banks send their 
"messengers" and "settling-clerks" at ten o'clock every morning to 66 
State Street, and there in a few minutes, without danger of loss, transact 
the whole business that would otherwise require several hours' time and 
considerable risk. The "losing banks," as those are called which bring in 
a smaller amount of checks on other banks than other banks bring in on 
them, are required to pay before .12.15 o'clock the balances due by them; 
and the "gaining banks " come in after that time for the balances due them. 
There are also 23 banks located in the vicinity of Boston that make their 
clearances through members of the association. The great work that is 
accomplished in a short time can be imagined when it is understood that 
about $12,000,000 change hands every day. The president is James H. 
Beal, and the manager is N. G. Snelling. 

The Boston Stock Exchange is situated on Exchange Street, just off 
from State Street. It is a hail, with regular rows of desks from the presi- 
dent's platform and table. It is connected by telephone with the offices 
of members ; and in the ante-room is a branch office of the Western Union 
Telegraph Company. The rooms have recently been enlarged. There are 
about 150 members. The membership-fee was formerly $2,000, but it is 
now $3,000. The transactions, which are those usual to stock boards, have 
within the past 18 months considerably increased in volume. The Board 
meets daily at 10.30 a.m. and at 2 p.m. Visitors can gain admission by 
application to the president M. R. Ballou, to the secretary W. C. Fisk, or to 
any member. The membership is full, and seats are in demand. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



295 



The following is a com 



plete list of the national banks of Boston 



Atlantic .... 

Atlas 

Blackstone . . . 
Boston . . . • 
Boylston . . • 
Broadway . . • 
Bunker Hill . • 
Central .... 
Columbian . . . 
Continental . . . 

Eliot 

Everett .... 
Faneuil Hall . . 

First 

First Ward . . . 
Fourth .... 
Freeman's . . . 

Globe 

Hamilton . . . 
Howard .... 
Lincoln .... 
Manufacturers' 
Market .... 
Massachusetts . . 
Maverick . . . 
Mechanics' . . ■ 
Merchandise .... 

Merchants' 

Metropolitan . . . . 

Monument 

Mount Vernon . . . 
Nat'l Bank of Commerce, 
Nal'l Bank Commonw'th, 
Nat'l Bank N. America, 
Nat'l Bank Redemption, 
Nat'l Bank of Republic . 
National City . . . • 
National Eagle . . . 
National Exchange . . 
Nat'l Hide and Leather, 
Nat'l Market of Brighton 
National Revere . . . 
National Rockland . . 
National Security . . 
National Union . . . 
National Webster . . . 
New England . . . . 

North 

Old Boston .... 

People's 

Second . . . • ~ . 
Shawmut .... 
Shoe and Leather . . 

State 

Suffolk 

Third 

Traders' 

Tremont 

Washington . . . 



Kilby and Doane Sts. . 
8 Sears Building . . 
132 Hanover Street . 
Mutual Life Building, 
616 Washington St. . 
43 Milk Street . . . 
21 City Sq., Ch'stown, 
121 Devonshire Street, 
65 State Street . . . 
51 Summer Street . 
Mutual Life Building 
N.-E. Life Building 
3 South Market St. 
17 State Street . . 
1 Winthrop B'k, E.B. 
34 Blackstone Street . 
Ill Summer Street 
41 State Street . . . 
60 Devonshire Street . 
19 Congress Street . . 
150 Devonshire Street, 
88 Summer Street . . 
86 State Street . . . 
95 Milk Street . 
50 Water Street . . 
115 Dorch'ter Av.,S.B 
ID Kilby Street . . . 
28 State Street . . • 
4 Post-Office Square . 
Thompson Sq., Ch'sl'n, 
43 Chauncy Street . . 
9 Sears Building . . 
82 Devonshire Street . 
106 Franklin Street . 
85 Devonshire Street . 
Mutual Life Building . 
61 State Street . . . 
Mutual Life Building . 
28 State Street . . . 
70 Federal Street . . 
Market St., Brighton. 
100 Franklin Street . 
2343 W^ashington St. . 
79 Court Street . . . 
40 State Street . . . 
132 Congress Street . 
67 State Street . . . 
109 Franklin Street . 
60 Devonshire Street . 
1 114 Dudley Street . . 
199 Washington Street 
60 Congress Street 
150 Devonshire Street, 
40 State Street . . . 
60 State Street . . . 
8 Congress Street . . 
91 State Street . . . 
State cor. Congress St, 
47 State Street . . . 



Isaac Pratt, jun. 
J. G. Wetherell. 
Joshua Loring. 
, James H. Bouve. 
Joseph T. Bailey. 
Aquila Adams. 
Edward Lawrence. 
M.W.Richardson. 
John T. Coolidge. 
William T. Hart. 
Win. H. Goodwin. 
Warren Sawyer. | 
Nathan Robbins. j 
John Carr. 
Chas. R. McLean. 
W. W. Kimball. 
John H. Rogers. 
C. O. Billings. 
A.H. Bean. 
Reub. E. Demmon. 
Joseph Davis. 
Chester Guild. 
Chas.O.Whitmore. 
A. D. Bigelow. 

Asa P. Potter. 

Jas. W. Converse. 

Israel G. Whitney. 

Franklin Haven. | 

Walt.S.Blanchard.: 

James O. Curtis. 

Thomas N. Hart. 

Caleb H. Warner. 

A. L. Newman. 

Isaac T. Burr. 

Wm. D. Forbes. 

Chas. A. Vialle. 

Samuel R. Payson. 

R. S. Covell. 

Ed. L. Tead. 

George Ripley. 

Granville Fuller. 

Geo. S. Builens. 

Samuel Little, | 

Sam'l A. Carlton. ; 

G. Whitney. 

Francis Jaques. j 

Thomas Lamb. 

J. B. Witherbee. 
H. W. Pickering. 
Henry Guild. I 

James H. Beal. 1 
John Cummings. 
Benjamin E. Cole.! 
A. W. Stetson. 

: A. L. Edmands, 

I P. L. Everett. 

j Edward Sands. 

I William Perkins. 
Eben Bacon. 



James T. Drown. 
Charles L. Lane. 
James Adams. 
D. B Hallett. 
D. S. Waterman. 
W. R. Dresser. 
Chs. R.Lawrence 
J. W. Derby. 
J. M. Gordon. 
Charles F. Smith. 
F. Harrington. 
1 John Reynolds. 
T. G. Hiler. 
Chas. H. Draper. 
I G. W. Moses. 
A. W. Newell. 
Geo. P. Tenney. 
C. H. Cole. 
Geo. W. Newhall. 
S. F. Wilkins. 
E. C. Whitney. 
Francis E Seaver. 
Josiah Q.Bennett. 
H.K.Frothingham 
John J. Eddy. 
Alvan Simonds. 
C. H. Kilham. 
Geo. R. Chapman. 
George H. Davis. 
Warren Sanger. 
Frank E. Barnes. 
GeorgeW. Harris. 
A. T. Collier. 
A. P. Luke. 
Ed. A. Presbrey. 
Henry D. Forbes. 
Chas. C. Barry. 
W. G. Brooks. 
J. S. Learoyd. 
A. P. Weeks. 
FrankG.Newhall. 
H. Blasdale. 
R. B. Fairbairn. 
' Charles R. Batt. 
j A. Trowbridge. 
Charles C.Riddle, 
Charles F. Swan. 
E. A. Burbank. 
Fred. L. Church. 
I George C. Leach 
- Ed. C. Brooks. 
James P. Stearns. 
Samuel Carr. 
C. B. Patten. 
Edward Tyler. 
Francis B. Sears. 
F. S. Davis. 
A.T.Frothingham 
W. H. Brackett. 



Fifty-nine National Banks, total capital 



$51,950,000 



196 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

The following is a complete list of the savings banks of Boston 



PRESIDENT. 



TREASURER. 



Boston Five Cents . . . 
Boston Penny .... 

Brighton Five Cents . | 

Charlestown Five Cents . 

East Boston 

Eliot Five Cents .... 

Emigrant 

Franklin 

Home 

Institution for Savings in i| 
Roxbury and \ icinity S 

North End 

Provident 

South Boston 

Suffolk ....... 

Union Inst, for Savings 
Warren Inst, for Savings . 



38 School Street , . . . 
1371 Washington Street . 
Washington St., c. Chest- ) 
nut-Hill ave., Brighton, \ 
Thompson Sq., Cha'stovvn, 
16 Maverick Square . . 
114 Dudley Street . . . 
590 Washington Street 
20 Boylston Street . 
Tremont, cor. Boylston 

2343 Washington Street . 

57 Court Street . . . . 
36 Temple Place . . . . 
368 Broadway . . . . 
47 and 49 Tremont Street, 
590 Washington Street . 
25 Main St., Charlestown, 



Alonzo H. Evans. 
G. W. Pope. 

N. W. Sanborn. 

Phineas J. Stone. 
j George T. Sampson. 
Wm. C. Appleton. 
Thomas Russell. 
Osmyn Brewster. 
Charles H. Allen. 

Arthur W. Tufts. 

N. J. Rust. 
William Perkins. 
Thomas Hills. 
Thomas Lamb. 
Hugh O'Brien. 
Timothy T. Sawyer. 



Curtis C. Nichols. 
Henry R. Reynolds 

William A. Fiske. 

Amos Stone. 
William B. Pigeon. 
George C. Leach. 
John \V. :\IcDonald. 
Henry Whittemore. 
W. E. Hooper. 

Edward Richards. 

Geo. C. Trumbull. 
Charles J. Morrill 
Edward H. Barton. 
Charles H. Parker. 
George F. Emery. 
George F. Tufts. 



The following is a complete Hst of the trust companies of Boston : 



N.\ME. 


OFFICE. 


PRESIDENT. 


SECRETARY. 


American Loan and Trust Co. . . 
Boston Safe Deposit and Trust Co. 

International Trust Co 

Massachusetts Hospital Life. Ins. Co. 
Massachusetts Loan and Trust Co. 
New England Trust Co 


55 Congress St. 
87 Milk Street. 
45 Milk Street. 
50 State Street. 
i8Post-OfficeSq. 
85 Devonshire St. 


Ezra H. Baker. 
Frederick M. Stone. 
John M. Graham. 
John L. Gardner. 
Stephen M. Crosby. 
William Endicott, jun. 


N. W. Jordan. 
Edward P. Bond. 
Henry. L. Jewett. 
J. C. Braman. 
Frank W. Reynolds 
N. H. Henchman. 



The following is a complete list of the safe-deposit vaults of Boston : 



NAME. 


OFFICE. 


PRESIDENT. 


MANAGER. 


Boston Safe-Deposit and Trust Co. 
Security Safe-Deposit Co. . . 

Union Safe-Deposit Vaults . . . 


87 Milk Street. 
67 Milk Street. 

40 State Street. 


Frederick M. Stone. 
J. Augustus Felt. 

Henry Lee, Manager. 


Edward P. Bond. 
F. G. Storey. 
1 George C. Lee, 
\ Sub-HIanager. 



The following is a partial list of leading bankers and brokers of Boston : 



Ballon & Co., George Wm , 72 Devonshire St. 

Ballon, M. R., 51 State Street. 

Bangs & Co., Elisha D., 88 State Street. 

Basset, Whitnej', & Co., 35 Congress Street. 

Blake Brothers & Co., 28 State Street. 

Bolles & Co., Matthew, 70 Stale Street. 

Brewster, Cobb, & Estabrook, 35 Congress St. 

Brown Brothers & Co., 66 State Street. 

Brown, Riley, & Co., 9 Congress Street. 

Chase & Barstow, 74 Devonshire Street. 

Chase &Co., R. Gardner, 146 Devonshire Street. 

Corbin Banking Co., 43 Milk Street. 

Day & Co., R. L., 14 E.xchange Place. 

Downer & Co., 28 State (basement). 

Fogg Brothers & Co., 48 Congress Street. 



Foote & French, 7 Congress Street. 
Hawley & Co., F. A., 20 Water Street. 
Head, C. D., and T. H. Perkins, 68 Devonshire St 
Kidder, Peabody, & Co., 113 Devonshire Street. 
Lee, Higginson, & Co., 40 to 44 Slate Street. 
Loud & Brother, T. J., 66 State Street. 
Mixter, George, 28 State Street. 
Moors &; Co., J. B., 35 Congress Street. 
Munroe & Co., John, 4 Post-Office Square. 
Parker & Stackpole, 60 Devonshire Street. 
Potter, Lovell, & Co.. Federal and Franklin Sts. 
Richardson, Hill, & Co., Simmons Building, 40 

Water Street, Room i (first floor). 
Rogers, Wood, Loring, & Co.. 34 High Street. 
Tower, Giddings, & Co., 105 Devonshire Street. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON 297 



Wc^t Eongue of tfje Cttg* 

BOOK AND PERIODICAL PUBLICATIONS ; NEWSPAPERS OF THE 
PAST AND PRESENT. 

BOSTON'S literary prominence has long been recognized; and its pub- 
lications, book and periodical, have been from the earliest, and still 
continue to be, among the foremost in the country. The history of its 
book-trade, from the time of Thomas Fleet, the earliest of its printers and 
publishers, — first of "Pudding Lane," now Devonshire Street, and long of 
Cornhill under the imposing sign of the "Heart and Crown," — to the 
present day, would fill a volume, and would be almost as interesting to the 
bibliophile and antiquary as the history of the book-trade of London or 
Paris. The pre-eminence that Boston has attained in the publishing and 
book-sellins: business is but the natural result of havinsf within and around 
her boundaries the men whose names stand foremost among the literati of 
the New World, as well as having some of the largest libraries and greatest 
educational institutions. The success of the trade is maintained by the 
great inducements offered buyers of books; for it is undoubtedly a fact 
that the dealers in Boston do sell books from 10 to 20 per cent lower than 
the same books can be bought elsewhere. Moreover, while the stores are 
not, as a rule, costly in their furnishings, possibly owing to the close mar- 
gins on which the business is conducted, they are capacious, and contain 
myriads of books. Probably nowhere in this country can like numbers and 
rarities be found. Those engaged in the business are generally men whose 
lives have been given to the study of the trade, and of the tastes of the most 
cultured people. Almost all of them are thoroughly trustworthy and ex- 
tremely courteous in their dealings. In publishing and book-selling, several 
million dollars .have been invested, and a large number of persons em- 
ployed. For years the book-trade centred in Cornhill; but it is now scat- 
tered, the leading houses being on Washington, Park, Tremont, Bromfield, 
and Franklin Streets. The oldest existing book-house is that of Little, 
Brown, & Co., the lineal successors of a book-shop kept in 1784 by E. Bat- 
telle in the Marlborough Street of that time ; and the oldest book-store is 
in the quaint building erected in 171 2 on the corner of Washington and 
School Streets, an ancient landmark, long known as " the Old Corner Book- 
Store," as it has been a book-stand since 1828, before which time it was 
used as an apothecary-shop, and before that as a dwelling-house, for which 
it was originally erected by Thomas Crease. 



298 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



Quite as interesting as the history and growth of the book-trade of the 
city is that of its periodical literature, and particularly its newspapers. It 
was in Boston that the first newspapers in the New World were published. 
The first venture, " Publick Occurrences, Both Forreign and Domestick," 
dated Sept. 25, 1690, came to a sudden end after a single issue; the au- 
thorities having promptly suppressed it, the General Court denouncing it 
as " containing reflections of a very high nature." The next attempt, " The 
Boston News-Letter," fortunately "published by authority," succeeded bet- 
ter, and was the first newspaper actually established. Its first issue was 
April 24, 1704. It was founded by John Campbell, postmaster, and printed 
by Bartholomew Green, whose name, says Delano A. Goddard in his inter- 
esting chapter on " The Press of the Provincial Period," in the Memorial 
History of Boston, "is associated with many of the best books printed in 
America for more than a third of a century." The printing-ofiice was in 
Newbury (now Washington) Street, near the corner of Avon Street; and 
the paper was sold "by Nicholas Boone at his shop near the old Meeting- 
house." It was a small folio sheet, issued weekly. Fifteen years after, a 
second newspaper was established, called " The Boston Gazette," the first 
number bearing date Dec. 14-21, 1719; and the following day, Dec. 22, the 
first American newspaper established outside of Boston, "The American 
Weekly Mercury," appeared in Philadelphia. "The Boston Gazette " was 
published by William Brooker, who succeeded Campbell as postmaster, and 
printed by James Franklin, Benjamin Franklin's elder brother. Brooker 
and Franklin continued publisher and printer of the paper only a few 
weeks; and in 1721 Franklin issued the third paper, "The New-England 
Courant," from his printing-office in Queen (now Court) Street. The -first 
number of this paper was issued on Aug. 17, 1721. It led a short and 
stormy life. Increase Mather denounced it as "a cursed libel." Franklin 
was twice arraigned for contempt, and once imprisoned four weeks in jail : 
and for a while his name was withdrawn, and the paper appeared with the 
imprint of Benjamin Franklin, then an apprentice with his brother, and not 
more than sixteen years of age. The paper ceased to exist in 1727. The 
use of the younger brother's name was not to his advantage ; and, soon after 
the change was made, he left Boston for Philadelphia. Mr. Goddard says 
of "The Courant," that "it was not wanting in ability; and, as a protest 
against prevailing narrowness and bigotry, it might have been of some ser- 
vice. But it was aggravating in temper, unjust to the authorities, misrepre- 
sented the clergy, and was on the wrong side of many public questions." 
The paper is remembered as that in which Benjamin Franklin's first contri- 
butions appeared. The fourth newspaper was "The New England Weekly 
Journal, containing the most remarkable occurrences, foreign and domes- 
tick," begun March 20, 1727; the fifth was "The Weekly Rehersal," begun 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON 299 

in 173 1 ; "The Boston Weekly Post-Boy " followed in 1734, succeeding " The 
Rehersal," printed once a week in the evening, however, instead of morning; 
then came "The Independent Advertiser," begun in the winter of 1748, to 
which Samuel Adams was one of the regular contributors ; next was started, 
in 1753, "The Boston Gazette and Weekly Advertiser," on the foundation of 
" The Boston Gazette and Weekly Journal ; " and this was in turn succeeded, 
a little more than two years after, by "The Boston Gazette and Country 
Journal," which was the organ of the Revolution; while " The Boston Weekly 
Advertiser," begun in 1757, loyally sustained the British Government during 
that struggle, and closed its career with the war. In 1767 "The Boston 
Chronicle " was started, and that was the first paper to publish oftener than 
once a week : in its second year it began publishing on Mondays and Thurs- 
days. In 1770 the publication of "The Massachusetts Spy" was begun. It 
advocated the cause of the patriots with great vigor and boldness, and its office 
was styled by the royalists " the sedition foundry." The last number printed 
in Boston was on the 6th of April, 1775. It was then removed to Worcester. 
" The News-Letter," the first established paper in Boston, lived 72 years, 
and was the only paper published in the city during the siege by Washing- 
ton. Other papers of the early days were " The Independent Ledger and 
American Advertiser," revolutionary in sentiment, and displaying the motto, 
"All hands with one inflamed and enlightened heart;" "The American 
Herald," started in 1781; and "The Massachusetts Centinel and the Re- 
publican Journal," afterwards changed to "The Columbian," the publication 
of which was begun in 1790. Of the 49 newspapers published in the colo- 
nies from 1748 to 1783, all were weekly or semi-weekly journals. The first 
daily paper in the country was " The American Daily Advertiser," pub- 
lished in Philadelphia, beginning in 1784; and the first attempt at daily- 
newspaper publication in Boston was, in 1796, by John O'Ley Burk, one of 
the "United Irishmen," with a venture called "The Polar Star and Boston 
Daily Advertiser." This lived six months, and was followed by "The Fed- 
eral Gazette and Daily Advertiser," which lived but three months. Then 
the third and successful effort was made in the publication of " The Boston 
Daily Advertiser and Repertory," begun on the 3d of March, 1813. To 
trace the growth of the press of Boston from that time to the present in 
detail would occupy more space than is available. It is sufficient to say 
that its development has been rapid and abreast of the times. It has been 
able, diligent, and enterprising; has employed some of the best pens and 
brightest intellects; and has exerted a wide influence. In the pages fol- 
lowing, some of the extant representative Boston newspapers and periodi- 
cals are concisely sketched. 

There are in Boston at the present day 9 daily papers, 4 semi-weeklv, 
76 weekly, 6 Sunday papers, 5 fortnightly publications, y^ monthly periodi- 
cals, 5 quarterlies, and many annuals. 



300 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



"The Daily Advertiser" is published from the new "Advertiser Build- 
ing," Nos. 246 and 248 Washington Street, and No. 69 Devonshire Street. 
This is a tall marble-front structure, towering above its neighbors ; and 
occupying such a position in the bend of the street, that its architectural 
effects are displayed to the best advantage. Extending through to Devon- 
shire Street, it is well adapted for the special requirements of the daily- 
newspaper business. The main entrance is under a broad arch, and through 
a finely ornamented vestibule, to the counting-room at the front; and to the 

other portions of the building, from a passage- 
way at the side. The " Advertiser " occupies 
for its own uses the street floor, and the exten- 
sive basement, with the two upper floors, and a 
portion of the fourth. In the basement are the 
press, stereotype, mailing, and delivery rooms ; 
on the street floor, the counting-room ; and on 
the floors above, the editorial and composi- 
tion rooms. The establishment is thoroughly 
equipped with all the modern machinery and 
appliances; is lighted throughout by the Edison 
electric light, and is complete in all its appoint- 
ments. The counting-room, the publisher's 
private office, and the rooms of the principal 
editors, are handsomely finished and decorated. 
The "Advertiser" moved into its new quarters 
in February, 1883, publishing a 20-page number 
on the first morning after its removal, — Mon- 
day, Feb. 19. This was an historical number, 
with the news of the day and all the regular 
departments of the paper as full and complete 
as usual. Previous to its occupancy of its pres- 
ent quarters, " The Advertiser " was published 
many years from the " Advertiser Building," 
Nos. 27 and 29 Court Street, occupying the site 
of the printing-office in which Franklin learned his trade. " The Advertiser," 
in its earlier years, acquired the good-will of several journals, among them 
"The Independent Chronicle," "The Boston Patriot " (established in 1809), 
"The Columbian Centinel," "The New England Palladium," "The Boston 
Gazette " (the fourth newspaper in Boston bearing that name), " The Reper- 
tory " (first published in 1803 by W. W. Clapp, and united with " The Daily 
Advertiser " at the outset, its name for a while being part of the title), and 
" The Boston Weekly Messenger." The first publisher of " The Adver- 
tiser " was W. W. Clapp ; and the first editor, Horatio Bigelow. In April, 



i; 














The Boston Advertiser ' Building, 
Washington Street. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 301 

1814, Nathan Hale, then the editor and proprietor of "The Messenger," 
purchased " The Advertiser " property from Messrs. Clapp and Bigelow ; 
Mr. Clapp continuing for a while the publisher. For more than thirty years 
Mr. Hale conducted the paper with credit to himself and the community. 
It was under his administration that it attained the local title of "the re- 
spectable daily." Mr. Hale was the first to introduce steam power-presses 
in New England ; and it is claimed that his was the first journal which sys- 
tematically introduced the editorial discussion of political topics. He died 
in 1863 ; and one of his sons, Charles Hale, succeeded him as editor, having 
for some years previous ably assisted his father in the conduct of the jour- 
nal, as had also his brothers, Edward Everett Hale, the well-known clergy- 
man and writer of the present day, and Nathan Hale, jun. Upon his 
appointment as consul-general to Alexandria, in 1864, Charles Hale dis- 
posed of the property to Dunbar, Waters, & Co.; and Charles F. Dunbar 
of the firm, who had for some time been the assistant editor of the paper, 
succeeded Mr. Hale in its editorial conduct. Mr. Dunbar continued in 
charge until 1869, when he was appointed professor of political economy 
in Harvard College. In that year, also, the property was sold to a new 
company. Delano A. Goddard, an accomplished journalist and writer, 
then became the editor; and Edwin F. Waters, one of the original pur- 
chasers of the property from Charles Hale, continued as publisher. Until 
the summer of i88r, the paper was a large folio ; but on the 4th of July it 
appeared in the quarto form, printed on an improved Bullock press with a 
patent cutter and folder attachment. Early in January, 1882, Mr. Goddard 
died very suddenly : and he was succeeded as editor-in-chief by Edward 
Stanwood, long a leading editorial writer on the staff. The editor at this 
time is Walter Allen. In November, 1882, Mr. Waters disposed of his 
interest, and retired from the position of publisher. He was succeeded by 
Edward P. Call, and subsequently by George H. Ellis. "The Advertiser" 
enjoys a substantial circulation among the best classes of readers, and a 
valuable advertising patronage. It has long been recognized as a leading 
commercial and business journal, and it now has the reputation of being a 
thorough and prompt newspaper in every department. It employs a large 
editorial force, and is conducted with skill and painstaking. In politics it is 
independent Republican. 

"The Boston Evening Transcript" is a favorite afternoon paper, par- 
ticularly in refined Boston and suburban homes. It is a literary paper, and 
noteworthy for its good variety of interesting miscellaneous reading-matter 
pubhshed along with the current news. Founded in 1830, it is the oldest 
evening paper in New England. It has been a substantial success from the 
start. It was established by Dutton & Wentworth, the State Printers at 
the time. The next proprietors were Henry W. Dutton »& Son ; and on the 



302 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



death of both the senior and junior Button its publication was assumed by 
trustees in the interest of their heirs. In 1879 the Boston Transcript Com- 
pany was incorporated, the stock being held wholly by the Button heirs. 
The first editor was Lynde M. Walter. On his death, in 1842, he was suc- 
ceeded by his sister, Miss Cornelia M. Walter. Subsequently Epes Sar- 
gent was editor 
of the paper for a 
number of years; 
and after him 
Baniel M. Has- 
kell, whose gen- 
ial and skilful 
conduct of the 
paper continued 
until his death in 
1874. He was 
succeeded by 
William A. Hov- 
ey, and he in 
1 88 1 by Edward 
H. Clement, the 
present editor. 
The quarters of 
"The T r a n- 
script " are in its 
own large and 
handsome build- 
ing, on the cor- 
ner of Washing- 
ton and Milk 
Streets, erected 
to replace the 
ofifice burned in 
the Great Fire of 
1872. It is one 
of the most com- 
a quarto of the 

average size, handsomely printed from fast presses ; and it occupies a field 
practically without a rival. It has a well-equipped force, and is enterprising 
in gathering the best of the local and general news. The quiet and digni- 
fied tone of the editorial page, and the absence in the paper of any thing 
which appeals to the popular craving for sensationalism, go far toward 




"The Boston Transcript," Washington Street. 

modious and elegant in the city. "The Transcript" 



KING 'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON 



303 



winning for " The Transcript " the esteem of its readers, and the success it 
enjoys. In politics "The Transcript" is Independent Republican. Be- 
sides the daily edition, an attractive and readable weekly edition — its con- 
tents selected with care and good judgment from the daily editions — is 
published. S. P. Mandell is president of the Transcript Company; and 
William Durant, who has been the business manager since the death of 
Mr. Button, is treasurer. 

"The Boston Post" is the leading Democratic commercial morning 
newspaper of Boston, and has a large circulation among business-men and 
Democratic families. It is published by the 
Post Publishing Company at No. 17 Milk Street, 
and sells for 3- cents a copy. Its new iron build- 
ing stands on the spot where Benjamin Franklin 
was born ; and a bust of the famous printer 
ornaments the front. The business-office is on 
the ground-floor. The editorial rooms, which 
are reached after a breathless climb of an iron 
staircase, consist of private rooms for the editor 
and his assistants, and neat rooms for the night- 
editor, city-editor, and the reporters. "The 
Post's " history dates back to 1831. It was at 
first a small sheet of 16 columns, from which it 
has been enlarged at various times until it now 
contains 36 long columns. Col. Charles G. 
Greene was the founder and first editor. He 
did much to make a reputation for the paper by 
his straightforward, vigorous, yet courteous 
style of treating public questions. It is not too 
much to say, that, under his editorship, it be- 
came the leading Democratic daily in the coun 
try, as well as a leading representative com- 
mercial paper of Boston. He gave it, also, a reputation for exceedingly 
good humor and' brightness, which it has never lost. Nathaniel G. Greene 
aided his father as editor, and practically conducted the paper for several 
years. In the winter of 1875 the property was sold to Rev. E. D. Winslow, 
who in January following proved to be a forger, and whose exposure after 
his flight was a great local sensation (see first chapter). He had so manip- 
ulated the certificates of the company's stock that it was difficult to decide 
who were the rightful owners. The matter was finally settled by the Supreme 
Court, and the property was disposed of to a new corporation. For a while 
F. E. Goodrich, a leading editor, conducted the paper as editor-in-chief. He 
was succeeded by George F. Emery, the principal proprietor. During the 




'The Boston Post," MiIk Street, 



30^ KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

year 1881 the corporation was re-organized; Alonzo P. Moore becoming the 
largest stockholder, as well as treasurer and business-manager; Mr. Emery 
retiring, and Robert G. Fitch succeeding him as the editor-in-chief. The 
business-manager now is W. H. H. Andrews. The paper has always shown 
evidence of wise and careful management. The " All Sorts " column of 
fresh and sprightly paragraphs, an original and famous feature of " The 
Post,'' continues to be well sustained ; and its various departments are care- 
fully edited by a corps of well-trained and able journalists. " Mrs. Parting- 
ton " (B. P. Shillaber) made her reputation for genial humor in the columns 
of "The Post." Improvements are often made. In i88r, for instance, the 
"make-up" was materially improved, and many new features were intro- 
duced ; the financial-news department was strengthened, including telegraphic 
Monday reports from the clearing-houses throughout this country ; and the 
hotel-arrivals became a feature. In the spring of 1882 its price was reduced 
to 3 cents a copy, and the subscription price to $9.00 a year. 

" The Boston Journal," established in 1833, l^^s held for fifty years a 
leading position in New-England journalism ; increasing with the growth 
of the city, and enjoying great confidence and liberal support. It is at once 
both a business-man's and family newspaper. Originally a Whig news- 
paper, it affiliated with the Republican party in the earliest days' of its 
existence. Few newspapers have been more loyal to the principles of the 
party, though its aim has been to make its discussion of men and measures 
independent and fair. It publishes morning and evening editions, and also 
semi-weekly and weekly editions. It gives in these several publications a 
vast amount of news, collected by its Washington, New- York, London, and 
Paris correspondents. It makes a specialty of New-England news ; and its 
representatives in all the news-centres of New England are daily pouring 
into its columns the earliest information. Its comments upon passing 
events are timelw The news is carefully prepared, great care being taken 
to avoid prolixity. " Facts, not words," is the aim of the paper in all its 
news departments. The " News of the Morning " and " Table of Contents " 
enable the hurried man of business to ascertain quickly all the important 
news of the day. The " City Article " contains a full sketch of the condi- 
tion of the markets, printed in a form which is attractive and instructive. 
Its special literary features are well known, and it constantly adds new ones. 
No labor seems to be spared to make it interesting, newsy, and profitable to 
all classes of readers. Its varied circulation is peculiar, and almost excep- 
tional, tending to give it that popularity as an advertising medium which it 
has so long enjoyed among shrewd business-men of the country. Its scale 
of prices, circulation considered (enjoying as it does the largest circulation 
in New England of any Republican newspaper), is low; and the fact that it 
rigorously maintains one price without discount gives to all patrons a knowl- 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 305 

edge that there is no favoritism in its business management. In its me- 
chanical appointments "The Journal" is not surpassed by any newspaper in 
the country. It has two Hoe perfecting presses, capable of printing 60,000 
papers per hour, and now stereotypes its forms. The presidential campaign 
of 1884 was a peculiar one, changing the political status of newspapers in 
almost every large city. " The Journal " remained loyal to the Republican 
party, and supported the nominees with great vigor. It claims at the head 
of its columns that it is "the only Republican paper in Boston w^hich is 
published both morning and evening." Its daily circulation exceeds fifty 
thousand copies. A distinguished New-England statesman once said, 
"The ' Boston Journal ' contains more reading that I am interested in, and 
less that I care nothing about, than any paper published." The original 
publishers of " The Journal " were Ford & Damrell. In 1841 it passed into 
the hands of Sleeper, Dix, & Rogers. John S. Sleeper was the first editor. 
He was succeeded by James A. Dix. For years the late Stephen N. Stock- 
w^ll was connected with its editorial management. The late Col. Charles O. 
Rogers, of Sleeper, Dix, & Rogers, the early proprietors, and later its chief 
owner, gave a start to the paper on its career of prosperity, and made a for- 
tune in its conduct. It is now in charge of Col. William W. Clapp, who for 
seventeen years was editor of " The Saturday Evening Gazette." He has 
had forty years' experience in Boston journalism, most of which has been 
passed in the "Journal" office; and he has done much in the way of im- 
proving and strengthening it. His corps of assistants in each department 
are men of ability and experience. The office is efficiently organized, and a 
vast amount of labor is performed with very little friction. The business 
and editorial quarters are modern in their appointments, and well arranged 
for the convenient transaction of business. " The Journal " has occupied 
its present building, No. 264 Washington Street, since September, i860. 

"The Boston Evening Traveller," now published at No. 31 State Street 
by Roland Worthington & Co., was the first two-cent evening paper estab- 
lished in Boston. It was founded in 1845, succeeding " The American Trav- 
eller " (weekly) and "The Boston Traveller" (semi-weekly); the former's 
headline exhibiting a cut of the four-in-hand stage, dashing along the dusty 
road. Its present chief proprietor, Roland Worthington, associated himself 
with its originators about two months after its first issue appeared, and has 
been its directing mind from that time to the present. Under his manage- 
ment it early achieved, and has steadily maintained, a high reputation as a 
prompt and enterprising collector of news. To it belongs the credit of 
being among the leaders in the movement to sell papers on the streets 
by newsboys, and also of having introduced the news-bulletin in Boston, 
which is now an essential feature of every newspaper-office. It was first 
published from the Old State House Building, and moved to its present 



3o6 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

headquarters about thirty years since. In the same office Benjamin Russell, 
one of the most aggressive of Boston editors, began, about loo years ago, 
the publication of " The Columbian Centinel," afterwards merged into 
"The Daily Advertiser." In 1857 the "Atlas," "Chronicle," and " Even- 
ing Telegraph" were merged into "The Traveller." It is now a large 
folio with 36 long columns, and is issued at 3 cents. " The Boston 
Traveller" is the semi-weekly edition ; and "The American Traveller" is 
the weekly edition; both having a large family circulation. In politics it is 
aggressively Republican, and sustains its opinions with great vigor. It has 
a large and talented corps of editorial writers, and its articles are quoted 
throughout the country. It pays especial attention to literary, educational, 
and social topics, and hence obtains admission to the best family circles of 
New England. Its " Review of the Week," published every Saturday, has 
been a favorite feature for two decades, and still retains its popularity. It 
was for many years written by the veteran litterateur^ Charles C. Hazewell. 
one of the earliest and strongest contributors to " The Atlantic Monthly," 
and whose accuracy on historical matters made this Review a standard 
authority. In the matter of telegraphic news, its Associated Press de- 
spatches are liberally supplemented by special despatches from Washington 
and all the chief centres of intelligence. It makes full reports of religious, 
scientific, and philosophical gatherings; and notable lectures find space in its 
columns. Henry Ward Beecher's sermons have for many years regularly 
appeared in " The Traveller " of Saturday, with which a large supplement, 
filled with short stories, good poetry, and miscellaneous reading, for the fire- 
side, is regularly sent out. An exposition of the International Sunday-school 
Lesson for the following day is also a standing feature of the Saturday num- 
ber. Its reviews of new books, and its dramatic, musical, and art criticisms, 
have long enjoyed a high reputation. The managers of " The Traveller " 
have always made it their boast, that nothing of an indelicate or even doubt- 
ful character could find its way into the columns of their paper. In the 
chapter on " The Public Buildings," is a good illustration of the " Traveller 
Building" and its interesting locality, including the Brazier Building, the 
First National Bank Building, the Old State House, and the Sears Building. 
It was almost in front of the " Traveller Building " that the Boston Massa- 
cre took place ; and not far from it stood the old town-pump. " The Trav- 
eller " is now the only paper published on State Street, — the " Wall Street " 
of Boston, — although not many years ago several of the leading local papers 
at the time were published there. In keeping with its location in the heart 
of commercial Boston, are its full and well-edited columns of commercial 
news, mining, railroad, and market reports, latest stock quotations, and daily 
financial review. On Tuesdays and Fridays " The Traveller " publishes, by 
contract with the City of Boston, the official verbatim report of the proceed- 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 307 

ings of the two branches of the City Council, which makes it the newspaper 
authority on municipal affairs. Within the past few years its circulation 
has been steadily increasing, and it has manifestly opened a new and pros- 
perous chapter in its very creditable history. 

"The Boston Herald" is the great popular newspaper of the citv. Its 
circulation is far in advance of any of its contemporaries, and its business 
patronage is extensive and profitable. It has for many years enjoyed a 
large circulation ; but its greatest growth in every direction has been under 
its present management. It is essentially a news^7c^Q.\\ and its enterprise 
has long been recognized as a conspicuous feature of its conduct. The first 
number of "The Herald" was issued in 1846 as an evening publication 
only, " neutral in politics." It was a small sheet, four pages of five columns 
each, and was sold for a penny. In 1847 it acquired "The American 
Eagle," and in 1857 " The Daily Times," both of v.hich were merged into 
it, and their names dropped out. The success of the venture was assured 
from the start. With the second year the form of the paper was enlarged, 
and it appeared with morning, evening, and weekly editions. The weekly 
edition was discontinued in 1851, and a Sunday-morning edition was started 
a few years after. In 1854 the columns were again enlarged; and, fifteen 
years after that, the paper was changed to its present size of eight columns 
to a page, and four pages to the sheet. Of late years it frequently brings 
out double sheets ; and the Sunday issue, a large quarto, is generally a 
" triple sheet." The first editor was William O. Eaton, a young man of 
twenty-two when he first took charge, Edwin C. Bailey, once postmaster 
of Boston, owned and managed the paper for several years ; and he was 
succeeded by the present managers, R. M. Pulsifer & Co., who bought the 
establishment in 1869. Since then there have been two withdrawals from 
the firm, but the principals remained. All three of the present owners " grew 
up " on " The Herald," — Mr. Pulsifer, the publisher, from a modest clerk- 
ship in the business department ; E. B. Haskell, the editor-in-chief, and 
C. H. Andrews, the news-manager, from the positions of general reporters 
in the editorial department. As long ago as 1854 " The Herald " was recog- 
nized as having the largest circulation of the daily papers of the city, by 
receiving the award of the Post-office letter-list advertising. For seven con- 
secutive years "The Herald" had claimed this as a right by virtue of the 
largest circulation. Its average daily circulation in July, 1881, was 133,000, 
and that of the Sunday edition 117,310. A good idea of the kind of news 
demanded by the people can be gleaned from the following memoranda of 
the number of copies sold when "The Herald" contained the news of the 
events cited : — 



3o8 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



YEAR. 

1863. 

1865. 
1865. 



1866. 
1867. 



1870. 
1870. 
1870. 
1871. 

,871. 
1871. 
1871. 
1872. 

1872. 

1872. 
1872. 
1872. 
1872. 
1873. 
1874 
1874. 
1874. 
1875- 
1875 



NO. OF 

EVENTS. COPIES. 

The draft riots and Lee's march 

into Pennsylvania 74>ooo 

The evacuation of Richmond . . 60,000 

Lee's surrender 60,000 

The assassination of President 

Lincoln 83,520 

The Fenian raids 70,000 

The election returns ...*.. 72,720 
The returns of presidential elec- 
tion 78,000 

The great storm 75)844 

The Fenian raids 95,ooo 

The Franco-Prussian war . . . 90,000 

The battle of Sedan . * . . . . 100,000 
The Eastern Railroad accident at 

Revere 111,840 

The Chicago conflagration . . . 113,280 

The election returns 100,320 

The Orange riot in New York . 96,240 
The assassination of James Fisk, 

jun 113,760 

The destruction of the incomplete 

jubilee Coliseum by a gale . . 108,240 

A murder at the North End . . 119,280 

The October election returns . . 100,748 

The November election returns . 119,076 

The Boston conflagration . . . 220,000 

The Credit-Mobilier scandal . . 137,000 

The November elections .... 139,212 

The Beecher-Tilton case . . . 137,000 

The second Chicago conflagration, 130,086 

The Beecher trial 158,698 

The battle of Bunker Hill centen- 
nial 157.^69 



1875. 

^875. 
1875. 
1876. 
1876. 
1876. 
1876. 
1876. 
1876. 



1876. 
1877. 



C879. 
[879. 



1880. 



NO. OF 

EVENTS. COPIES. 

The execution of Wagner, Gor- 
don, and Costley 134,952 

The November election returns . 134,430 

The Concord-fight celebration . . 132,577 

Piper's first confession .... 134,710 

Piper's second confession . . . 158,492 

Piper's execution 174,318 

The October elections .... 139,480 

The presidential elections . . . 147,216 
The day after the election returns 
(said to be the larf^est edition 
ever printed by an American 

daily newspaper) 223,256 

The November elections .... 190,384 
The railroad strike in Western 
Pennsylvania, and riot at Pitts- 
burg 145,575 

Railroad disaster at Wollaston, 

Oct 8 145,600 

State election returns in Novem- 
ber 154,373 

The Lynn trunk mystery, July 17, 141,268 

November election returns . • . 149,757 
Sinking of the steamer " Narra- 

gansett" in Long-Island Sound, 137,643 
Celebration of the 250th anniver- 
sary of settlement of Boston. . 145,919 
Indiana election returns .... 145,268 
Presidential election returns . . 159,104 
Presidential election returns . . 213,403 
Assassination of Garfield . . . 215,910 
The President's condition. July 4 . 171,996 
The President's condition, July 5 . 207,388 
Presidential election returns . . 302,030 



"The Herald '' was long established at No. 103 (now numbered 241) Wash- 
ington Street; the editorial, press, and mailing rooms being in the rear on 
Williams Court. In February, 1878, it removed to its present building, espe- 
cially erected for it at No. 255 Washington Street. This building is one of 
the finest newspaper-offices in the world. Its outward appearance is most 
attractive, and its internal arrangements are most complete. It is furnished 
with all the modern conveniences, and was built from the most carefully 
prepared plans, after the examination of other modern newspaper-offices. It 
is practically two buildings. The mam building on Washington Street has 
a frontage of 31 feet 9 inches, and a length of 179 feet. The L leading 
into Williams Court has a frontage of 24^ feet, and a length of 40 feet. 
The total ground-surface is about 6,200 square feet. The Washington-street 
front, in the French Renaissance style, makes a striking contrast with its 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 3^9 

dingy surroundings. The building has six stories and a high basement. 
The entire finish and furnishing of the building are elaborate, and in excel- 
lent taste. There are four Bullock presses in the basement, capable of 
printing 86,000 papers an hour. In politics " The Herald " is independent. 
"The Boston Globe" is a Democratic morning and evening newspaper, 
issuing from six to eight editions daily. It was started in March, 1872, as 
an eight-page paper, independent in poHtics, by Maturin M. Ballou. Mr. 
Ballou retired from ownership and its editorial charge the following year, 
and was succeeded by a new organization which endeavored to make it a 
complete newspaper up to the metropolitan standard, and also independent 
in politics. It was so continued, with varying success, until the spring of 
1878, when the radical change to the present politics, shape, and price was 
made. Its morning and evening editions are now sold at 2 cents a copy; 
and it has a Sunday edition, a large quarto, selling at 5 cents a copy. It 
also publishes a weekly edition. The several editions enjoy a large circu- 
lation. Like the other leading newspapers of the country, it has had a very 
large circulation on days when great events have excited the public mind. 
On the day following the election in November, 1878, 82,400 " Daily Globes " 
were sold; in November, 1879, 66,070; in March, 1880, on the last day of the 
first New-York walking-match, 56,700; Sept. 18, 1880 (250th anniversary of 
Boston), 54,880; and on Nov. 3, 1880 (day after Presidential election) 73,330. 
On Jan. i, 1881 (when the " 1981 Globe " was issued), 80,260 copies were sold 
on that day. Subsequently the demand increased all over the country, and 
several hundred thousand more copies were printed. During the summer of 
1881 a Baltimore firm, who bought the copyright of this edition, printed the 
*' 1981 Globe " in several languages, and began the distribution of millions of 
copies all over the civilized world. During the sickness of President Gar- 
field, "The Globe" greatly added to its reputation by its patriotic course. 
During the campaign of 1880 it supported Gen. Hancock, and severely criti- 
cised Gen. Garfield. After the election it recognized him as the President 
of the whole people ; and when he was struck down by the bullet of the 
assassin as the head of the nation, " The Globe " denounced the act in vigor 
ous terms, and stood on high patriotic ground, where every man and news- 
paper in the country, with hardly an exception, were firmly united, and 
prepared for any emergency, or any crisis, w^iich might affect the life of the 
Republic. On the night of the President's death, " The Globe " was one of 
the few newspapers which issued a midnight extra giving the news. From 
one to three o'clock a.m., probably for the first time in their history, the 
people of Boston were awakened by newsboys to get out of their beds to 
buy a newspaper. The sales on that day ran up to 117.800 copies. On the 
day following the funeral of President Garfield, " The Globe " for the first 
time in the history of journalism, utilized the poets on a broad scale, devot- 



3 TO KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON 

ing the whole first page to tributes to the President from Oliver Wendell 
Holmes, Joaquin Miller, John Boyle O'Reilly, and other well-known poets. 
It was a decided hit; 104,890 copies being sold on the day of publication, 
and many thousands were sold daily for several days afterward. The 
" Globe " Building, Nos. 236 and 238 Washington Street, is large and un- 
pretentious, extending through to Devonshire Street. It was formerly occu- 
pied by " The Boston Transcript." " The Globe " is well fitted out in each 
department, stereotypes its forms, and with its new press has facilities for 
turning out 50,000 papers per hour. It is especially enterprising in its 
efforts to obtain the latest news, — the National Associated Press furnish- 
ing the groundwork of its despatches; and it has special correspondents 
throughout New England, and at leading centres in the whole country. In 
June, 1873, when Mr. Ballou sold out his interest and retired, the stock- 
holders unanimously placed the establishment in charge of Col. Charles H. 
Taylor, who has been the manager since that time. The managing editor 
is Arthur A. Fowle. 

" The Boston Evening Record," which has had an instantaneous and 
phenomenal success, was established in September, 1884, the first number 
having been issued on the 4th of that month. It opposed the candidacy of 
Mr. Blaine, and has been independently Republican in its politics. At the 
end of six montlis it had attained a daily circulation of twenty thousand, 
and within ten months of its foundation it had exceeded in its regular daily 
issue twenty-six thousand five hundred copies, — a circulation which still 
rapidly increases. Its management early adopted the plan of printing daily 
a sworn statement of the actual circulation. The " Record's " popularity 
is partly due to the fact that it is sold at one cent, and very largely to the care 
and enterprise with which its news is gathered, and the condensation wMth 
which it is presented. Nothing of importance is omitted, and nothing dull 
admitted. Its editorials are a brisk, closely compressed, witty, good- 
natured, and yet earnest comment on the actualities of the day. A popular 
feature is the semi-weekly "Stories About Town," a department of Boston 
narratives and gossip managed somewhat on the plan of the Paris papers' 
chromques. The '• Record " is published at 248 Washington Street (" Daily 
Advertiser" Building) by George H. Ellis; and its editor is Mr. J. E. 
Chamberlin. 

" The Sunday Papers " — besides the immense Sunday editions of 
"The Boston Herald" and " Boston Globe" — are "The Saturday Evening 
Gazette, " " The Boston Courier, " and " The Sunday Budget." " The 
(Gazette" w^as established in 1813 by William W. Clapp, the first pub- 
lisher of " The Daily Advertiser ; " and he was succeeded by his son, 
W. W. Clapp, now of "The Boston Journal." The present editor and 
proprietor is Col. Henry G. Parker. The paper is a large folio. It dis- 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 311 

cusses from an independent standpoint literature, politics, and the general 
events of the day, and pays especial attention to music, the drama, and art 
topics, in all their features. -It was the original society paper of Boston; 
and its "Out and About" columns have long furnished a favorite medium 
for fashion, news, and gossip. " The Gazette " has the position of the old- 
est of Boston newspapers, and is also recognized as a thoroughly repre- 
sentative paper of that which is distinctive in Boston ideas and tastes. 

" The Courier " was formerly " The Daily Courier," and as such had a con- 
spicuous career as one of the chief Whig papers of Boston. It was estab- 
lished in March, 1824, and was edited until 1848 by Joseph T. Buckingham, 
in his day one of the leading editors of New England, and who wrote, 
among other things, his " Reminiscences," which is a valuable contribution 
to the history of journalism. He was succeeded as editor by Samuel 
Kettell (1848-55), Isaac W. Frye (1855-60), and George Lunt. Its publica- 
tion as a daily ceased Dec. 31, 1866. It is now a literary paper, conserva- 
tive in politics, and of excellent tone. Its publisher is Joseph F. Travers, 
and its editor Arlo Bates. Among its distinguished contributors have been 
Webster, Choate, Everett, Winthrop, Gushing, Felton, Lanman, Congdon, 
Parsons, Prescott, Ticknor, Curtis, Ellis, Sprague, Story, Hillard, and many 
others. James Russell Lowell wrote the Biglow Papers for " The Courier." 

" The Budget" was started in 1878 by George B. James, who established 
" The Daily Globe." In June, 1881, it was purchased by William A. Hovey, 
the former editor of "The Transcript," and associates ; and in April, 1883, 
John W. Dwyer bought out Mr. Hovey 's interest, and John W. Ryan 
became editor, and George B. James treasurer of the Budget Publishing 
Company. 

Bicknell's Educational Publications comprise several periodicals pub- 
lished by the New-England Publishing Company, of which Thomas W. 
Bicknell is president. Mr. Bicknell is tlie active business manager of all 
the interests of tlie company, and editor of its leading journals : viz., " The 
Journal of Education, — New England and National," — established in 
1875; "Education," established in 1880, a bi-monthly magazine of 112 
pages, containing contributions from eminent authorities; and "The 
American Teacher," founded in September, 1883. These publications are 
ably edited, and stand among the foremost of the educational journals of 
the world. The editorial and counting rooms are at No. 16 Hawley Street. 

Juvenile Magazines published in Boston enjoy great popularity, and 
have a wide circulation. The oldest of this class of publications is " The 
Youth's Companion," the most successful of all the American or foreign 
periodicals for young, people. It is noticed more fully farther on. "Wide 
Awake," the young folks' monthly of art and literature, edited by Ella 
Farman, is published by D. Lothrop & Co., 32 Franklin Street: who 



312 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

also publish "Babyland" and the "Little Folks' Reader,"' monthlies, and 
" The Pansy," weekly. *' Wide Awake " is breezy, original, and notably 
healthful in tone. Its authors are the foremost of America and England, 
as are its artists and engravers. Its happy union of the entertaining and 
practical ranks it, perhaps, first of the young folks' monthlies. Some of 
its illustrations are of a superior order, and its youthful patrons are very 
fond of it. The other publications are for younger children. " Our Little 
Ones" is another young folks' magazine, edited by William T. Adams, so 
widely known as " Oliver Optic." It is published by the Russell Publish- 
ing Company, at No. 36 Bromfield Street. It is one of the finest of all 
American publications. There are other juveniles of denominational and 
other characters, published by the various houses, prominent among which 
is " Good Times," whose circulation is not far from 20,000. 

"The Youth's Companion" has a larger circulation than any literary 
paper in the world, the number of copies printed weekly being upwards of 
340,000. It was founded in 1827 by Deacon Nathaniel Willis (the father 
of N. P. Willis), as an outgrowth of the then very popular Children's 
Department of " The Boston Recorder," and was the first weekly paper 
published for young people. In 1867 it became the property of D. S. Ford, 
its editor; and three years later it became a family paper, affording the 
best reading, of interest to all, at a very small cost. In 1870, its circula- 
tion was 70,000: in 1876, 140,000; and in 1885, 340,000, in every State and 
Territory of the Union. Among its contributions in 1885 were illustrated 
serial stories by J. T. Trowbridge, Mrs. Oliphant, Alphonse Daudet, Edgar 
Fawcett, Frank R. Stockton, and C. A. Stephens ; travel-sketches by Louise 
Chandler Moulton, Archibald Forbes, S. G. W. Benjamin, James Parton, 
and Henri Meunier; and other articles bv Froude, Tyndall, Max Miiller, 
Canon Farrar, T. Sterry Hunt, E. P. Whipple, Richard A. Proctor, E. A. 
Freeman, and other famous writers. It will thus be seen that the best 
writers of America, England, and France are regular contributors to '' The 
Youth's Companion," whose reading-matter is at once interesting from the 
first line to the last, vigorous and instructive in tone, and pure and elevating 
in theme. Every family which is visited by " The Youth's Companion " 
knows that it is a source of delight, instruction, and amusement, not only 
to the young, but to people of all ages. It is a credit to Boston, that a 
paper started and fostered and pushed here should in its fifty-eighth year 
stand at the head of all the literary papers of the world in circulation. 
The " Companion " never was making greater headway, and ought to reach 
half a million circulation within three years from date. The offices of '' The 
Youth's Companion " are at No. 41 Temple Place. 

"The Boston Commercial Bulletin," the office of which is on Wash- 
ington Street opposite the head of Water Street, may be considered the 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 313 

pioneer, as well as the most successful, of a class of business papers de- 
voted to trade, commerce, and manufactures, or, in many cases, to a single 
branch of trade. It was founded Jan. i, 1859, by Curtis Guild, and is now 
published by Curtis, B. F., and Curtis Guild, jun., under the style of Curtis 
Guild & Co. The two brothers, Curtis and B. F. Guild, are both natives 
of Boston, and well known as thoroughly experienced newspaper-men. Mr. 
Curtis Guild, jun., graduated at Harvard with high honors in 1881. The 
influential journal which they publish is a model in its important way. It 
is a large, forty-column folio sheet, devoted to the financial, business, and 
manufacturing interests of the country; and its departments of market 
reviews, manufacturing news, stock-operations, insurance, mining, business 
changes, failures in business, gossip of trade, are original features of the" 
paper, which are presented in a singularly attractive and systematic manner. 
Besides its very full amount of commercial information, which is of value 
to every buyer or seller, " The Boston Commercial Bulletin " occupies a 
high position as a literary journal. A portion of the first page of each 
issue is devoted to original sketches or contributions from writers of recog- 
nized reputation. Authors whose names are familiar in the leading serials 
of the country are engaged in this department; and its column of original 
pungent paragraphs, known as the " Spice of Life," is a recognized celeb- 
rity. The " Bulletin " is noted for accuracy and fulness in its different 
departments: it is a model in make-up, typography, and paper. Its circu- 
lation is quite large, penetrating every part of New England, and also 
extending all over the United States. It is issued weekly, at $4 a year. 

"The Boston Commonwealth" was established Sept. i, 1862, by James 
M. Stone and Moncure D. Conway, as a weekly advocate of the emancipa- 
tion of the slaves, as a measure of war, during the pending of the great 
civil contest in the United States, and of their subsequent arming as sol- 
diers for the national cause, and final recognition as citizens. This purpose 
was long in advance of public sentiment on the subject, but it was persist- 
ently and vigorously followed. Mr. Conway gathered about him many able 
writers and thoughtful business men of anti-slavery proclivities, who cor- 
dially sustained his views. For a year or more the appeals to President 
Lincoln and his Cabinet to favor emancipation were incessant and deter- 
mined, and were not without influence upon the advanced statesmen of the 
times. During its second year — Mr. Conway taking up his residence in 
England, and Mr. Stone engaging in other business — Messrs. Francis W. 
Bird and Frank B, Sanborn guided the interests of the paper, with the 
same devotion to the main purpose of its establishment. Mr. Sanborn did 
much to give a high literary tone to the paper in connection with its poli- 
tics ; and this brought to its lists a large number of eminent subscribers, 
including nearly all the favorite New-England authors, who have been re- 



314 AUNG'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

tained throughout its career. The gentlemen interested in the paper had 
the peculiar satisfaction, before the war ended, of seeing their leading ideas 
accepted as public policy. In October, 1864, Mr. Charles W. Slack, a prac- 
tical journalist, who had been connected with the " Boston Journal," " Daily 
Commonwealth," and " Evening Telegraph," was asked to take the business 
and editorial direction by Messrs. George L. Stearns, f>ancis W. Bird, 
Henry L. Pierce, and William Claflin, who had in turn become the owners, 
but who were actively engaged in private business; and on assuming the 
position Mr. Slack proceeded to make the paper a representative New- 
England journal, devoted to politics, literature, art, current comment, and 
news. As such it gave an earnest support to Senators Sumner and Wilson, 
and the Massachusetts delegation generally in Congress, in all the varied 
measures of ''reconstruction " after the war, the adoption of the constitu- 
tional amendments, etc. In this work it was first among the foremost, and 
had a fixed and firm policy that was of great service to the Republican 
leaders in Congress, and, indeed, all over the country. With the gradual 
settling-down of the country by acceptance of the statesmanship of the 
dominant party, more opportunity was given the paper to cultivate the arts 
and graces of peace ; and since that date it has been the aim of its con- 
ductor to minister to all that adds sweetness and dignity to life, the eleva- 
tion of humanity, and the well-being of its immediate constituency. This 
it has done by encouraging all rational reform movements, by giving the 
best thoughts of lecturers, preachers, and other leaders of public sentiment, 
and by preserving the absolute purity of its columns. As a result the pat- 
ronage of the journal is almost exclusively family., and the circulation 
amoug refined, progressive, and helpful people. It is still (in its twenty- 
first volume) published weekly, on Satii^'days, at No. 25 Bromfield Street, 
Boston, at $2.50 per annum, or five cents per single copy. 

Other Publications, including weekly, monthly, and literary, art, religious, 
and miscellaneous publications, are numerous, and they address all classes. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON, 315 



IHarfeete anti ISxcijatige^, 

THE MARKETS, TRADE EXCHANGES AND ASSOCIATIONS, AND 
STOCK-BOARD. 

THE first market in Boston, it is believed, stood on the site of the Old 
State House. It is mentioned in Winthrop's Journal as having been 
"set up by order of the court" in March, 1634. A hundred years later 
three markets were located by the town, — one in North Square, one in 
Dock Square, and the third on the site of the present Boylston Market. 
Three hundred pounds were appropriated for their erection. They were 
opened on the 4th of June, 1734 ; and the townspeople were greatly pleased 
with them. It was long the custom to ring a bell daily at sunrise to give 
notice of the opening of the markets for the day, and at one o'clock p.m., 
the hour of closing. The market in Dock Square was the most frequented. 
In 1736-7 the old market-house here was demolished by a mob, "disguised 
as clergymen ; " a contention having arisen among the people as to whether 
they would be served at their houses in the old way, or resort to fixed local- 
ities. By this summary method the question was for the time being settled. 
In 1740 Peter Faneuil proposed to build a market-house at his own expense 
on the town's land here in Dock Square ; his only condition being that the 
town should legally authorize it, enact proper regulations, and maintain it 
for the purposes named. Though this offer was courteously received, such 
was the division of opinion, that it was accepted by a majority of only seven 
votes out of the number voting. The building was completed in 1742, and 
destroyed by fire in 1761. In 1819 a number of citizens erected what was 
known as the City Market, at the foot of Brattle Street, on the edge of 
Dock Square ; but the General Court refused to incorporate the proprietors, 
and the city subsequently rejected the offer of the market as a gift. 

The New Faneuil-Hall Market is the name given to the floor under 
Faneuil Hall, universally known as the "Cradle of Liberty.-' The building 
was erected by the city in 1762, to replace the market-house on the same 
site destroyed by fire the year previous. It was in 1805 enlarged to its 
present size, 100 by 80 feet. Faneuil Hall is 74 ft. 3 in. long by 75 ft. 3 in. 
wide, and has no seats on the main floor and only a few in the gallery. It 
is used chiefly for political meetings or great public gatherings. "Webster 
replying to Hayne in the United States Senate, Jan. 26 and 27, 1830," a 
painting 16 by 30 feet, by Healy, and numerous portraits by various 



3i6 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



artists, adorn the walls of the hall. The hall is granted for such meetings 
as the city approves ; and, although no rent is charged, the expenses, amount 
ing to %1Q a day and $25 a night, are paid by those using the hall. 




Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market, Merchants' Row. 

The Quincy Market. — The erection of Quincy Market, — first called the 
Faneuil-Hall Market, and still officially known by that name though popu- 
larly called Quincy, — and the extensive improvements about it, constituted 
the greatest enterprise of the kind that had ever been undertaken in Bos- 
ton. It was one of the many great improvements in the city due to the 
remarkable energy and enterprise of Josiah Quincy, who, according to 
Drake, " invested the sluggish town with new life, and brought into jDracti- 
cal use a new watchword. Progress.'''' At this time there was a row of vege- 
table sale-sheds on the north side of Faneuil Hall ; and the neighboring 
streets were obstructed with market-wagons, while farmers were compelled 
to occupy w^ith their stands Union Street nearly to Hanover, and Washing- 
ton almost to Court. Work on Mr. Quincy's project began in 1824, the 
corner-stone of the new market laid in 1825, and the work finished in 1826. 
The market-house is of Quincy granite, two stories high, 535 feet long, and 
covering 27,000 feet of land. The centre part, 74 by 55 feet on the ground, 
rises to the height of ']'] feet, and is surmounted by a fine dome. The wings 
in their entire extent are 30 feet high. Upon each end of the building is a 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



317 



portico with four columns, of tlie Grecian Doric style, each being one solid 
shaft of Ouincy granite. The first story is occupied by the market, having 
its stalls on each side of a grand corridor, through the entire length of the 
building. Above was once a vast hall, called Ouincy Hall ; and here with 
Faneuil Hall, a bridge being thrown across the square, connecting the two, 
were long held the fairs of the Massachusetts Mechanics' Association. 
This hall is now divided into apartments, and occupied as warerooms. The 
market is certainly one of the most richly and extensively furnished mar 
kets in the country. It cost, exclusive of the land, $150,000. In connec- 
tion with the work of building this market, six new streets were opened, 
and a seventh greatly enlarged, including 167,000 feet of land, and flats, dock, 
and wharf riglits obtained to the extent of 142,000 square feet. "All this," 
we quote from Ouincy's History, " was accomplished in the centre of a pop- 
ulous city, not only without any tax, debt, or burden upon its pecuniary 
resources, but with large permanent additions to its real and productive 
property." The cost of the market, land, and street and other improve- 
ments, was $1,141,272. 

The Boylston Market, at the corner of Boylston and Washington Streets, 

when opened in 1810 was ^ 

considered far out of town. 
It was named for Ward 
Nicholas Boylston, a great 
benefactor of Harvard Col- 
lege, which has named its 
chemical laboratory in his 
honor, and a descendant 
of Dr. Zabdiel Boylston, 
famous in the history of 
inoculation. Mr. Boylston 
presented the clock that 
now tells the time to pass- 
ers-by. Over the market 
is Boylston Hall, in which 
the organization of several 
churches has taken place, 
and a variety of musical, 
theatrical, and miscellane- 
ous entertainments have 
been held. It was leased 
for several years to the 
Handel and Haydn Society, and for many years it has been used by the pub- 
lic schools for drill purposes. The building is owned by the Boylston Market 




Boylston Market, Washington Street. 



31 8 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

Association, of which John Ouincy Adams was the first president. The 
land was bought at 'js cents a foot, and the building cost $20,000, In 1859 
an extension of 40 feet was made; and in 1870 the building was moved back 
from the street 11 feet, without the slightest disturbance to the occupants. 
The second story now contains the headquarters and the armories of several 
of the well-disciplined companies of the city militia. Jonatlian French is 
the president of the Boylston Market Association, and Hobart Moore the 
clerk. • 

In 1852 tlie Blackstone Market, on Blackstone Street, and the Williams 
Market, on the corner of Washington and Dover Streets, were opened; and 
a few years before, the Beach-street Market, in the building where the 
Dramatic Museum had a short career in 1848. The Williams and Beach- 
street Markets are discontinued. At the present time, besides those already 
mentioned, there are the Washington Market, the farthest up-town market, 
established in 1870, in a spacious and attractive building 250 feet long, situ- 
ated No. 1883 Washington Street; the Suffolk, corner of Portland and Sud- 
bury: the Central, No. 50 North; the Clinton, No. 106 South Market; the. 
Lakeman, Blackstone, corner of North ; the St. Charles, Beach, corner of 
Lincoln; and the Union, Nos. 15 and 17 Washington Street. Ihere is also, 
on Atlantic Avenue, between Clinton and Richmond Streets, the Mercantile- 
wharf Market, popularly called jthe farmers' market, supplied by the vegetable- 
farmers of the near-by towns. There are small market-houses also in East 
Boston and South Boston. Of the market-houses, the city owns only Faneuil 
Hall and Ouincy ; or, as the two are designated in the official records, "Fan- 
euil Hall and market under the same ; Faneuil Hall Market-house and Ouincy 
Hall over the same." 

The business exchanges of Boston are quite numerous, and are for the 
most part conducted on a broad and generous scale. The chief one is the 

Merchants' Exchange and Reading-Room, on State Street, conducted by 
the Boston Board of Trade, in the old Merchants' Exchange Building, where 
the last great conflict with the flames of the Great Fire of 1872 took place. 
The first Merchants' Exchange was established in 1842, when the present 
building was built. It occupied a fine hall, its ceiling supported by imita- 
tion Sienna marble columns, with Corinthian capitals, and a grand dome 
overhead filled with stained glass. Notwithstanding that this Avas well 
equipped and well managed, it met with indifferent success ; and some time 
before the Great Fire It gave way for the sub-treasury, which occupied the 
place until removed to its present quarters. When the Board of Trade took 
the matter in hand, its object was to establish an Exchange after the most 
approved plan, and on a par with the best and most complete in the country; 
and its ambition was to group all the business exchanges of the city under 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



319 



one roof, with the Merchants' Exchange as the main gathering-place. 
The old building was extensively remodelled, and to some extent rebuilt, in- 
side ; and the new Merchants' Exchange and Reading-Room, as thoroughly 
equipped and as admirably arranged as any in the country, was opened to 
subscribers on Oct. i, 1873. The main hall is 60 by 80 feet, and is well 
lighted by spacious windows and a monitor skylight. The floor is of dia- 
mond-shaped blocks of black and white marble alternately; a white mar- 
ble dado, four feet high, with black border, encircles the room; and the 
ceiling is tastefully frescoed. Newspaper-racks are arranged along the 
hall's sides, one close to each of the fourteen pilasters ; and the room is pro- 
vided with every possible convenience. The bulletin-boards record market 
quotations, promptly received, from all parts of the world; the shipping- 
news is bulletined as received by telegraph ; vessels arriving are immediately 
registered ; sales of stocks 
and other securities are 
chronicled ; every change 
of wind is noted on a dial 
m'arked with points of the 
compass and connected 
with a large weather-vane 
on the roof of the building: 
and a variety of other in- 
formation of moment and 
value to merchants is here 
given. In the rear of the 
main hall is a large retiring- 
room, richly and comforta- 
bly furnished, with sump- 
tuous-looking heavy ma- 





MMm 



The Merchants' Exchange, State Street. 



hogany morocco-covered chairs and lounges. Here are held the meetings 
of the Board of Trade. Admittance to the Merchants' Exchange and its 
privileges is given only to subscribers. These number in the vicinity of 
1,000, a falling-off of nearly 500 since the establishment of the rooms. 
This is accounted for by changes and death ; but more particularly by 
the establishment of so many independent trade associations, the hope of 
gathering all organizations in one place not being realized. The cost of 
maintaining the establishment is about $35,000 each year. The president 
is Eustace C. Fitz, and the secretary and superintendent is Edward J. 
Howard. The Mercliants' Exchange Building was built and is owned by 
a stock corporation, under the name of the Merchants' Exchange Building 
Company. It cost, without the land, $175,000. Its front is of Ouincy granite. 
In 1880 many chanjjes were made in the interior, includins: the introduc- 



320 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

tion of a Whittier elevator. On the same floor as the main hall of the 
Exchange is the insurance agency of Franklin S. Phelps & Co. Mr. 
Phelps has been in the agency and brokerage business on State Street for 
the past twenty-six years, and enjoys the patronage, confidence, and esteem 
of many Boston business men. The adjusting of marine losses is also a 
specialty of this firm; E. A. Kellogg, the junior partner, devoting his v/hole 
attention to this department. 

The Boston Commercial Exchange occupies a spacious hall in'the Board 
of Trade building, Vvhich is reached through the Merchants' Exchange, and 
by short flights of marble steps at the rear. It is provided with sample- 
tables, large blackboards for quotations, a case of " standards " for the 
different grades of 'flour and grain, — which standards are established with 
great care, and approved by a majority of the members of the Exchange, — 
books for the record of daily receipts of flour and grain, etc. The " change " 
hour is from 12 m. to i| p.m. every business day; and business is limited to 
the sale or purchase of flour or grain and other produce, at wholesale, for 
cash unless otherwise provided for. Important committees are those on 
inspection, one on flour, and one on grain. They act as umpires to 
settle all cases of dispute as to the grade, soundness, etc., of the articles 
under their supervision. The Commercial Exchange was formerly the 
Corn Exchange, which was established in 1855, but not incorporated until 
1868. In 1871 the present name was adopted, that the title might be broad 
enough to include other interests. At about this time leading provision, 
fish, and salt dealers joined the organization. Subsequently, however, the 
latter gradually withdrew ; and now no interests other than flour, hay, and 
grain are represented in the Exchange. The membership is about 250. 
Henry F. Woods is president, and Herman L. Buss is secretary. 

The Boston Produce Exchange is on the floor over the Ouincy Market, 
in a spacious and loft}' hall, directly under the dome of the building. This 
is an organization of recent date. It was organized in January, 1877. It 
includes the leading firms in the wholesale fruit, produce, and provision 
business; and a fair representation of other interests, such as the butter 
and cheese, fresh fish, etc. A " call " for the sale of produce is held daily 
at II A.M. The "change" hour is from i to 2 p.m. The membeisliip is 
about 500. 

The Boston Fish Bureau is the name of the fish-dealers' exchange, at 
No. 176 Atlantic Avenue, at the head of T Wharf. This is open daily, 
and is frequented by the most active men in the business. The fish- 
market of Boston continues to hold the leading position as the largest 
fish-market in the country; and it is one of the most important interests of 
Eastern New England. The president is Barna S. Snow, the secretary 
is William A. Wilcox, and the treasurer H. Staples Potter. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON 32 1 

The Shoe-and-Leather Exchange is in the lower story of the building 
on the site of " Church Green," at the junction of Summer and Bedford 
Streets, convenient to all parts of the leather-district. It was established 
by the New-England Shoe-and-Leather Manufacturers' and Dealers' Asso- 
ciation, incorporated in 1871 "for the purpose of promoting the general wel- 
fare of the hide and-leather and boot-and-shoe interests of New England." 
The present quarters were occupied in March, 1877. Before that time, and 
since the Great Fire in 1872, the Exchange has occupied several places, 
none of which was altogether satisfactory; and the manufacturers and 
dealers were divided into two parties, — one desiring the general exchange 
located on Hanover Street, near the American House, which had long been 
the headquarters of the shoe-and-leather men ; and the other advocating its 
establishment nearer the recognized leather-district of the business portion 
of the city. When at length the present rooms were opened, the advantages 
presented by them were so great that they were soon accepted as the princi- 
pal headquarters of the trade. The main room is large, well lighted, and 
well equipped. It has ample side and retiring rooms, private and public 
offices, and a telegraph-office. A daily register is kept of the arrival of 
out-of-town dealers, and trade-reports are conspicuously bulletined. A great 
advantage to the members of the trade, who enjoy the privileges of the 
Exchange, is the information furnished by the Bureau of Credits, and the 
Bureau of Debts and Debtors, two important departments of the Shoe-and- 
Leather Association. The Bureau of Credits keeps books of ratings of 
the commercial standing of persons and firms dealing in hides, leather, 
boots and shoes, and findings, not only in New England, but in all parts 
of the country; and these lists are constantly revised. The Bureau of 
Debts and Debtors investigates any case of mercantile failure in the trade 
reported to it by a creditor, recommends, and, in an emergency, takes, 
such action as in its judgment will promote the interests of the creditor. 
The Exchange is open daily during business-hours for the convenience and 
profit of the subscribers ; and on market-days, Wednesdays and Saturdays 
of each week, from 12 m. to 2^ p.m., the " change " hour, the place is crowded 
with men of the trade. The officers of the Shoe-and-Leather Association 
manage the Exchange ; Augustus P. Martin is the president, and Charles S. 
Ingalls the secretary and general superintendent. Originally the trade had 
its headquarters at Wilde's Hotel on Elm Street, and subsequently at the 
American House on Hanover Street. Before the Great Fire, there was a 
much-frequented Shoe-and-Leather Exchange on Pearl Street. 

The New-England Furniture Exchange is situated at No. 174 Hanover 
Street, not far from Haymarket Square. Its membership includes the prin- 
cipal manufacturers and dealers in furniture and kindred articles in New 
England; and its object is mutual protection and assistance in business. 



322 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

It does not attempt to control prices ; but it exerts an influence in the mat' 
ter of the length and condition of credits, and the rate of cash discounts. 
Like the Shoe-and-Leather Exchange, it has a record of credits; and being 
in direct communication with the furniture exchanges in other cities, and 
working in harmony with them, under a plan adopted by the national con- 
vention of furniture-men held in New York in February, 1878, it obtains 
prompt information regarding the financial standing of firms and traders in 
all parts of the country, while it aids materially in protecting creditors and 
debtors from disastrous consequences of failures of incompetent and dis- 
honest dealers. This exchange manages, in the combination of the furniture 
exchanges of the country, what is known as " The Boston Section," which 
embraces the trade in Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, 
Rhode Island, that part of Connecticut east of the Connecticut River, and 
the Provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Quebec. The admis- 
sion-fee of members is $25, and the quarterly assessment $6. 

The Lumber-Dealers' Association was formed in 1869, to bring about 
" united action, perfect harmony, and mutual understanding among lumber- 
dealers." It numbers about 50 active members, resident in Boston and 
vicinity, and meets monthly during the winter. Its president is Nathaniel 
M. Jewett, and its secretary Waldo H. Stearns. 

The Mechanics' Exchange, which now occupies large and finely fitted up 
rooms at 33 and 35 Hawley Street, was started as a private enterprise in 
1857, and was conducted for some time by Smith Nichols. It first occupied 
rooms at the corner of State and Devonshire Streets, and at various peri- 
ods has since been located on the opposite side of State Street and at 17 
Court Street. It removed to its present quarters in 1877. About ten years 
ago the Exchange was re-organized, and its management was placed in the 
liands of a board of officers chosen by the members. A yearly assess- 
ment of $20 is paid by each firm belonging to the institution ; the members 
chiefly are master-mechanics connected with the various building-trades. 
The membership is now about 300, and is constantly increasing. The Ex- 
change is open in summer from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., and in winter from 8 to 5. 
The busiest hour is between 12 m. and i p.m. Then the rooms are crowded 
by the members, who meet to form plans, compare views, make contracts 
and bargains, pay bills, and transact other business. Many members have 
no other headquarters than the Exchange, and have special boxes here for 
their papers and correspondence. The operations of tlie members are not 
confined to the city ; and large contracts are taken for all parts of the coun- 
try, including New England, New York, and the West. The building oper- 
ations of Boston in some single years amount to $8,000,000, and the greater 
amount of these are carried on by members of the Exchange. The president 
of the Exchange is B. D. Whitcomb, and the superintendent George B. 
Chadbourne. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON 



323 



The Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association was founded in 
1795, and incorporated in 1806. Its annual income is employed to relieve 
the distresses of unfortunate mechanics and their families, to promote 
inventions and improvements in the mechanic arts by granting premiums 
for inventions and improvements, to assist young mechanics with loans of 
money, and to establish schools and libraries for the use of apprentices and 
the improvement of the arts. The association awards certificates to appren- 
tices, who, on arriving at 21 years of age, bring testimonials from the per- 
sons with whom they served, showing that they have behaved with fidelity 
and attention, and have not violated any agreement made by them. Every 




The old Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association build 

Building) 



icy Street (now Merchants' 



third year the association holds a special meeting called the " Triennial 
Festival." At irregular intervals, averaging every three years, it holds a 
public exhibition, popularly called the " Mechanics' Fair." For many years 
these fairs were held in Faneuil and Ouincy Halls, the two being connected 
by a bridge extending over the street. In 1878 a temporary building for its 
fair was erected on Park Square, Columbus Avenue, and Pleasant Street. 
In i860 the association erected the fine dark freestone building, in the Italian 
Renaissance style, on the north-west corner of Chauncy and Bedford Streets, 
at a cost, including the land, of $^320,000. It was sold in 1881. The same 
year the association erected, at a cost of $500,000, a permanent building, suit- 
able for exhibitions and all the purposes needed, at the corner of Huntington 



324 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

Avenue and West Newton Street. It covers an area of more than 110,000 
square feet. Its front on the avenue is 600 feet, and on West Newton 
Street 300 feet ; and at its widest part it is 345 feet. Its avenue front is 
Renaissance, with free treatment in style. Arches of graceful curves rise 
nearly to the coping. These and the adjacent walls are massively laid in 
red brick, with sills and caps of freestone, and terra-cotta ornaments. On 
one side of the main arch of the central exhibition-hall is a head of Franklin 
representing electricity; and on the other, one of Oakes Ames representing 
steam as shown in railroading. Surrounding these are spandrels of palm, 
oak, and olive branches, in which appear the arm and hammer of the asso- 
ciation's seal, typical of the mechanical craft. An octagonal tower, 90 feet 
high and 40 feet in diameter, forms the easterly termination of the building. 
Here are two wide entrances, one from Huntington-avenue sidewalk, the 
other from the carriage-porch, itself an attractive piece of ornamentation, 
built of brick and stone with open-timbered and tiled roof. The building is 
admirably arranged for the purposes for which it was designed. At the 
easterly end, adjoining the tower, is the "administration building;" beyond 
this westerly is the great '• exhibition-hall," with spacious galleries and an 
ample basement; beyond that, the "grand hall," extending across the west 
end; and, between the balconies of these two halls, the art galleries and 
studios. The grand hall will seat 8,000 people, and is fitted with an elegant 
organ, one of the finest in the country, and all conveniences for large gather- 
ings. The " administration building " contains on the first story the various 
offices ; on the second floor, large and small dining-rooms ; and on the third, 
a large and attractively finished hall. The first exhibition of industry, skill, 
and art in this building (the fourteenth of the Association's series) was held 
in September and October, 1881, when fully 375,000 persons visited it; and 
the proceeds were upwards of $112,000, with expenses of about $80,000. 
In contributions, conveniences, elegance, and results, it transcended all pre- 
vious exhibitions. Some of the most remarkable developments of the later 
years in science and mechanics — like the strength-testing machine, the 
railway electric safety-signals, the electric-lights, the postal-stamp cancel- 
ling-machine, etc. — were presented at this exhibition ; and 54 gold medals, 
253 silver medals, 355 bronze medals, and 337 diplomas awarded, besides, 
for the first time, a "grand medal of honor," of gold, exquisitely wrought, 
for the single exhibit "most conducive to human welfare." This last was 
taken by Mr. Albert H, Emery, civil engineer, of New York, for the 
strength-testing machine. Among the early presidents were Paul Revere, 
who served 4 years; Jonathan Hunnewell, 9 years; and Benjamm Russell, 
14 years. The officers for 1885 are Thomas J. Whidden, president; Fred- 
eric W. Lincoln, treasurer ; and Joseph L. Bates, secretary. 



326 AGING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

The Boston Merchants' Association is an organization established in 
1876, and incorporated in December, 1880, "for the purpose of promoting the 
interests of Boston by maintaining places for social and business meetings 
and intercourse, and diffusing useful knowledge." It has standing commit- 
tees, on arbitration, which are to decide questions of dispute and difference 
between members; on transportation ; and on debts and debtors, to investi- 
gate failures in trade. It has a membership of 320 firms and individuals, 
representing the different business interests of the city, the wholesale dry- 
goods predominating. It is established in attractive rooms in the old build- 
ino- of the Charitable Mechanics' Association, on the corner of Bedford 
and Chauncy Streets, which were first occupied in the summer of 1880. 
They comprise a main dining-hall fitted in ash tables and chairs of Eastlake 
pattern, and two parlors connected, for business or social purposes. The 
rooms are finely finished, and the walls are hung with an attractive collection 
of paintings. The annual and occasional dinners of the association are in- 
teresting local features, and it frequently leads in the entertainment of dis- 
tinguished guests in the city. The president is Augustus Whittemore; 
treasurer, Joseph W. Woods ; secretary, Beverly K. Moore. 

The Boston Mining- Stock Exchange, at No. 53 State Street, was estab- 
lished in 1879. It ^^''^s originally organized as a corporation under the State 
laws; but in the spring of the present year the members voted to abandon 
the corporation and re-organize as an association, for convenience in manage- 
ment. Consequently the supreme court legally dissolved the old corpora- 
tion, at its own request; and re-organization was effected during the summer. 
The "Exchange" room is well arranged for the convenient and prompt 
transaction of business. The membership is not large. About a hundred 
mining-companies have offices in Boston. 

The Boston Marine Society is one of the oldest organizations in Boston. 
It was instituted in 1742, under the name of the Fellowship Club, and was 
incorporated in 1754. Its active members are masters of vessels; and its 
honorary members are owners of vessels, merchants, and others. It aims 
to improve the knowledge of this coast by having its various members com- 
municate in writing their observations on their inward and outward trii's, of 
the variation of the needle, the soundings, courses, and distances, and all 
remarkable things about the coast; also to relieve one another and Iheii- 
families in poverty or other adverse accidents in life. The society has a 
fund of about $125,000. Its grants to indigent members and their families 
in the past 80 years amount to $300,000, of which $120,000 was granted 
during the past 20 years. The president is R. G. F. Candage, and the secre- 
tary Henry Howard. The society occupies Room 13 iTi the Merchants' 
Exchange building. 

The Boston Board of Marine Underwriters was organized in 1850. Its 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON 



327 



object is to obtain such benefit as may be derived from consultations on 
measures of general interest, and from concerted action where such action 
is likely to promote the interests of its members, who comprise almost 
exclusively the Boston insurance-companies doing marine business. It has 
agents in all parts of the world, from whom is constantly received informa- 
tion regarding vessels in trouble. The inspectors of the board inspect and 
rate all vessels that arrive at this port. This board also makes the tariff of 
charges for marine insurance. The board has its office in the Merchants' 
Exchange building. Isaac Sweetser is president, and George H. Folger 
secretary. 

The New-England Manufacturers' and Mechanics' Institute is a joint- 
stock corporation organized under the laws of the State ; its fundamental 
object being to establish an organization of the manufacturers and mechanics 




New-England Manufacturers' and Mechanics' Instiiu 



of New England, for the purpose of securing the general improvement of 
its manufacturing and mechanical interests. It was organized in Septem- 
ber, 1S78, and incorporated in April the following year. Its capital stock 
was fixed at $200,000, divided into shares of $25 each. The first work of 
the new organization was the erection of a substantial, permanent, fire-proof 
exhibition-building. This was begun in the spring of 18S1, and completed 
in the autumn. It is situated on Huntington Avenue, and covers an area 
of nearly five acres of land. Its available floor space for exhibition pur- 
poses exceeds eight acres. The main entrance opens into an ample vesti- 
bule, which has a depth of 134 feet, and a lateral extent about 250 feet. 
Across the width of the vestibule three broad avenues extend, one leading 
directly to the central avenue or aisle of the main building, the others lead- 
ing diagonally towards the two other aisles extending the full length of the 
main floor parallel to the main or central aisle. The interior construction 



7,28 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

of the main building is without partitions, so that the view of the vast in- 
terior is not obstructed. Two galleries, each 63 feet wide, extend lengthwise 
of the building. These are not built against the side walls, but parallel to 
them, and at a distance from them of 63 feet. There are galleries also at 
the front and rear of the building, constructed in the usual way. The front 
gallery is spacious, and corresponds to the dimensions of the vestibule below 
it. The space bounded by the gallery fronts is 400 feet long, 126 wide, clear 
of columns, and open to the roof, a height of 80 feet. The first fair of the 
Institute was opened on Aug. 18, 1881. The depression in trade of the fol- 
lowing two or three years was fatal to the Institute, which found itself com- 
pelled to suspend operations in 1884, and practically go out of existence. 
The vast building erected for its exhibitions is now unoccupied, and there 
has been some talk of its acquisition by the State as an armory and drill- 
hall for the Boston militia. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 329 



STfjc Bacfeboue of tf)e ffiitg. 

PROMINENT AND INTERESTING MERCANTILE AND MANU- 
FACTURING ESTABLISHMENTS. 

THE interesting features of Boston shown in the previous chapters, and 
many that were necessarily left unmentioned, are due chiefly to the 
liberality and culture of the business-men from whom is obtained the money 
required to carry to completion all material improvements. It is true that 
many professional men give money to aid great works ; but it will be found, 
if traced back sufficiently, that this money was earned by them, directly or 
indirectly, from the business-men. This fact alone would justify sketches 
of corporations and individuals who have acquired success in the honorable 
management of their various pursuits; but to this can be added the state- 
ment that many of the most interesting features of the city are in the 
factories and warehouses where the necessities and luxuries of life are made 
and sold. 

If we think of the wares of the merchants, and also of the productive 
and commercial agencies employed to place them at the disposal of the 
people, we certainly will grant that the shops of a great city are among 
the most suggestive subjects for reflection. In a book of this class, making 
no claims to be a " city directory," there is but little space in which to notice 
the thousands of mercantile and manufacturing firms; and this space must 
be given to only a few of those owning establishments of a prominent char- 
acter or of great public interest. The business-structures include many of 
the finest specimens of architecture in the city. The stores contain displays 
of goods, that, placed in museums or exhibition-rooms, w'ould make attractive 
and exceedingly valuable collections as works of art. In the manufactories, 
so often overlooked and so seldom looked over by resident or visitor, are to 
be seen some of the greatest exhibitions of skill and ingenuity, as well as 
some of the most interesting subjects. It is particularly appropriate to 
begin our sketches wMth that of a house uniting specially noteworthy architec- 
tural, commercial, and manufacturing features. This establishment and the 
others described afterward are open to visitors. We refer to 

Macullar, Parker, & Company, the famous clothiers and tailors, whose 
establishment is at Nos. 398 and 400 Washington Street, very near the 
heart of the city where Summer and Franklin Streets, Temple Place, and 
Winter and Bromfield Streets converge, swelling the ceaseless tide of travel 



330 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

through Washington Street. The building occupied by Macullar, Parker, & 
Company was one of the last to succumb in the Great Fire of 1872; and 
the present building stands on precisely the same site. 

It is now thirty years and more since three young men mapped out 
an enterprise that to their minds seemed feasible. It may be that they 
"builded better than they knew;" but, be that as it may, certain it is that 
their plans — developed from year to year as occasion required, and never 
deviated from through all vicissitudes of hard times, dull seasons, and 
serious loss by fire — have culminated in a business and a reputation that 
have never been exceeded by other parties in the same sphere of action. 
It required courage on the part of the new firm to lay down for their own 
guidance certain canons in business ethics that were to be as immutable 
as the laws of the Medes and Persians ; and then trust to a future, more or 
less remote, for vindication and success. There were to be no goods liable 
to fade, no fancy colors that would not stand a long exposure to the sun or 
rain, no mixture of cotton in warp or woof, and no half-way workmanship 
in making and trimming garments. A certain standard was set up; and so 
far as chemical science could point out frauds in textures, and rigid inspec- 
tion by experts could detect flaws in workmanship, that standard from that 
day to this has never been compromised. 

The great building, that represents the outcome of these thirty-one years 
of progress, fronts on two streets, — Wasliington and Hawley. No adequate 
idea of its size can be had from a street view. It is only by passing through 
from one end to the other, that the visitor realizes its possibilities in dimen- 
sions and equipment. The building was designed expressly for the business, 
and in points of safety, comfort, and ventilation, is equal to any public 
structures on a similar scale of magnitude. Of late years, more floor-space 
for work and store rooms was called for. This demand was promptly met 
by annexing rooms in adjacent buildings, connected with the central work- 
rooms by covered iron bridges. There is now space for six hundred 
operatives and clerks ; and the building encloses a little commonwealth of 
cheerful, contented, and well-paid workers, who take an interest in the 
house, and a pride in its productions. 

The custom-clothing department in 1884 took possession of the spacious 
store at 398 Washington Street, which is said to be the largest room in 
America used for this business, and contains a great variety of cloths, for 
all manner of uses. 

No work is sent out; the idea being, that by passing a garment along in 
the shops from hand to hand through the different stages of completion, 
until some fourteen specialists have each assisted in the line to which he or 
she was trained, an approach to perfection is attained, which can be arrived 
at in no other way where goods are made in such large quantities for stock 




WACULLAR, PARKLR, & COMPANY, 398 AND 400 WASHINGTON STREET. 



2>?>^ 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON 



purposes. For instance, button-holes are better formed and stitched by a 
person who does nothing else, than when they have to take their chances 
in the ordinary way ; and so it is with making seams, shaping up collars, 

and all the other 
jm met ice of the 
business. 

The firm import 
their own foreign 
piece goods, and 
have a direct in- 
terest in the manu- 
facture of home 
fabrics that take 
second place only 
after the best in 
Scotland and Eng- 
land. Of these 
piece goods they 
are jobbers, selling 
any number of 
yards that may be 
wanted by mer- 
chant-tailors from 
Maine to Utah. 
They have travel- 
ling salesmen all 
through the West; 
and in this way 
they become the 
distributors annu- 
ally of an immense 
amount of first- 
class woollens. 
Among other 
European mills 
with which they 
have a direct corre- 
spondence, we may 

mention the representative concerns in Scotland that are located at Aber- 
deen, Selkirk, Hawick, and Dumfries, and those in England at Hudders- 
field, Bath, Stroud, and Trowbridge. The London office of the firm is at 
8 Beak Street, near Regent Street. 




Hawley-street Front of Macullar Park-^r 



&: Company s Build ng 



<~.lO)(Jiifcrj^C0 







KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



zzz 



In 1876 a branch house was established in Providence for the sale of 
ready-made clothing. Since then a department has been added for the pro- 
duction of custom-made articles. The Providence building was designed 
and built for this firm's exclusive occupancy. 

The accompanying views of Macullar, Parker, & Company's buildings, 
will recall them to the minds of many people who are not residents of 
Boston. The handsome facade of white marble is a familiar feature of the 
architecture of Washington Street, while the sectional presentation is a piece 
of realistic work that has attracted much attention from its effectiveness and 
novelty of design. From roof to sub-cellar, the interior of the structure 
appears in this illustration as it would if one of the outer walls were removed. 

Of the original firm, Messrs. Addison Macullar and Charles W. Parker 
still retain their membership. The senior partner resides in Worcester, 
and is not now an active manager. Mr. George B. Williams withdrew in 
1879. Mr. Parker is the general manager in all departments, and has given 
successful direction to affairs for many years. He is ably seconded by the 
junior partners, — Messrs. Nathan D. Robinson, Ira B. Fenton, James L. 
Wesson, and Hatherly Foster. 

The Boston Belting Company, established in 1828, and incorporated 
in 1845, is the oldest company, and has the largest works, in the world. 







Works of the Boston Belting Company, near Roxbury Station. 



devoted to the manufacture of rubber goods for mechanical and manufac- 
turing purposes. Its paid-up capital is $700,000. Its factory buildings 
cover two acres, and are supplied with five powerful engines. They are on 
Tremont, Clay, and Elmwood Streets, Boston Highlands, nearly opposite 
the Roxbury station of the Boston and Providence Railroad. The com 
pany employ 300 men, and use of raw material five tons daily. The Boston 
Belting Company have the exclusive right (under James B. Forsyth's 
patents) to line cotton and linen hose with rubber; and to manufacture 
rubber-covered rolls used in print-works, bleacheries, cotton, woollen, paper, 



334 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

and tobacco mills, and for leather-splitting machines, clothes-wringers, and 
other purposes ; also to manufacture patent-stretched, smooth-surface belt- 
ing, which makes the best belt for all purposes. Among other articles are 
steam-packing, deckle-straps, blankets for book, newspaper, lithograph, and* 
other printers, valves, stopples, and hose of all kinds. Their cotton and 
hnen hose lined with rubber, and fire-engine hose made by alternate layers 
of rubber and cotton, excel every other make for service and efficiency, and 
are in great demand by the fire-departments throughout the United States. 
Belts are manufactured here from one inch to six feet in width. The com- 
pany has received the highest diplomas and medals of the Massachusetts 
Charitable Mechanic Association, the American Institute, and the Cincin- 
nati and New-Orleans Expositions. The sales-rooms are in the Cathedral 
Building, 222 and 226 Devonshire Street. The officers of the company 
are E. S. Converse, president; James B. Eorsyth, general manager; and 
I. P. T. Edmands, treasurer. 

John P. Squire & Co. of Boston is a business house too well known, the 
world over, to permit of a detailed or advertising account of their works at 
Cambridge, or of their modes of conducting business in their commodious 
offices in Boston. A brief outline of the inception, growth, and maturity 
of this vast business, will be more to their tastes, and quite as acceptable 
to the public. 

The house was founded by the present senior member, John P. Squire, 
on May i, 1842. Its course has ever been conservative, but progressive in 
the broadest sense; and the spirit of its founder has seemed to pervade its 
every stage of development, whose chief and only object has ever been, to 
legitimately and honorably meet the rapidly growing demands of its patrons. 
Mr. Squire is a man of sixty-six years, but in the best of health, and full of 
life and vigor. He was born in Wethersfield, Vt., on the 8th of May, 1819. 
He passed his boyhood on the farm, and in the village store; coming to 
Boston on the 19th of March, 1838, and engaging in the employ of Mr. 
Nathan Robbins, dealer in poultry and wild game in Faneuil-hall Market. 
Four years later found him in business for himself. 

His efforts to continue this great enterprise at its present standard of 
honorable dealing, and to continue to furnish for the millions of both hemi- 
spheres a cheap and wholesome article of food, are well and nobly seconded 
by his two sons and present partners, Frank O. and Fred F. Squire, who 
both seem to be well constituted to build on the firm foundation which has 
been laid by the father. The yearly amoynt of business now done is about 
twelve millions of dollars. The hogs, the products of which are their only 
articles of manufacture, are all supplied from the great West. The build- 
ings necessary for the full equipment of this great business are very exten- 
sive, as is shown by the accompanying cut; and a large addition thereto is 
now in process of erection, which we do not show in our plate. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



335 




KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



Every conceivable article of food, that can be produced from the hog, can 
be furnished at this establishment when the public calls. About one thou- 
sand people find employment here, and in many ways the founder and 
present proprietors are public benefactors. 

William G. Bell & Co., one of the largest provision-houses in New 
England, began business in 1861, on Fulton Street; the firm being com- 
posed of two brothers, William G. Bell and Albert D. S. Bell, as at present. 
After moving to North Market Street, they made a fina,l removal to their 
present commodious quarters at 48 and 50 Commercial Street, not far from 
the Faneuil-hall Market. In 1882 the increase of their business compelled 




fc^ 



- I 







luiuniuiiiiuiintii"' 



William G. Bell & Co., 48 to 54 Commercial Street. 



them to nearly double their accommodations by annexing a contiguous 
store. This concern has probably the largest jobbing business of its kind 
in New England, in supplying the grocers and provision-merchants of New- 
England cities and villages, through its travelling salesmen. 

William G. Bell & Co., in addition to their great provision trade, control 
several valuable specialties. Their "poultry seasoning" is sold by millions 
of cans every year (one single herb-grower supplying them with forty thou- 
sand pounds of sage a year), and is sent out in continually increasing quan- 
tities, from California to Florida. The Windsor, Brevoort, Parker's, and 
other first-class hotels also use this choicest of seasonings. The firm has 
the local agency for the Beach Soap Company cf Lawrence, which was 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



337 



established nearly eighty years ago. They also have the New-England 
agency of the Fairbanks Canning Company of Chicago, and have built up 
a trade in canned goods that is second to no other in Boston. By careful 
attention to business, and unremitting diligence, William G. Bell & Co. 
have built up a vast basiness, which is still extending and increasing. Mr. 
A. D. S. Bell is one of the executive committee of the Commercial Club. 

The Derby and Kilmer Desk Company occupies the premises from 
No. 55 to 65 Charlestown Street, near the Boston and Maine station. Here 
are their salesrooms and offices, where a large and interesting assortment 
of desks and office furniture are to be seen. The factory is at Somerville, 
and employs from sixty to seventy-five hands. It has been recently re- 
organized and refitted, and now has a full supply of machinery of all kinds, 
of practical value in the cabinet-making business. 

The business was started in 1872, in a small way, by Mr. (ieorge H. 
Derby, who, seven years later, began the manufacture of the roll-top desks. 
In 18.S0 ?>cd M. Kilmer entered into co-partnership with Mr. Derby. The 
growth of tlie business has been very steady and satisfactory, on the basis 
of supplying a demand for the best goods. The aim of the company is to 
produce tlie best goods of the kind in the world, their quality always being 
the first consideration, and the cpiestion of price coming after. Their goods 
are sold jirincipally through agents in the leading business-centres of the 
country. The Derby roll-top desks are specially designed for the use of 
business and ])rofessional men. 

A desk is much more tlian a writing-table. With business men, and 
busy men of all sorts, the desk is a depository for papers, and needs special 
conveniences for easy classification of letters, documents, and memoranda; 
drawers in which already classified papers may be kept at hand ; and, within 
most convenient access, receptacles for writing-materials, envelopes, etc. 

The close of the day often finds the business man's desk filled with 
unfinished papers and business memoranda which he must leave at a few 
seconds' notice in order to "catch his train," or to attend to some more 
important matter. The Derby roll-top desk, with its spring-lock, enables 
him to leave his papers as they are, ready for the morrow's work, entirely 
safe from intrusive curiosity and disturbance. The " pigeon-holes " and 
drawers of the desk, properly labelled, enable the business man to almost 
automatically classify his memoranda, and, through them, his work. Its 
sliding shelves afford his friends and callers a ready desk for any memo- 
randa or receipts which they require to make. The manufacturers of the 
Derby desks make and sell a thoroughly-built desk, elegantly finished, 
handsome and durable, containing all modern improvements of any practi- 
cal value, at comparatively low prices. Thousands of Derby roll-top desks 
are now in use in the United States, Europe, Mexico, South America, the 



338 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

East and West Indies, and Australasia; and testimonials^ duplicate orders^ 
and increasing deinand indicate their general popularity. The chief corpo- 
rations of New York and Boston and other cities use the Derby desks, and 
so also do many eminent professional men, like Roscoe Conkling, the Rev. 
Dr. Hall, and others. 

The predominant idea of the Derby desk is that of a writing-table which 
can at will be covered by a flexible and impenetrable curtain of wood, com- 
posed of long pieces of polished hard wood, fastened behind to stout canvas 
duck, and playing up and down in curving grooves. It is an adaptation of 
the Japanese-curtain idea, strengthened and made scientifically secure, and 
was first applied to the dainty Httle desks of the French noblesse centuries 
ago. 

The Whittier Machine Company was incorporated in 1874, and suc- 
ceeded to the business of Campbell, Whittier, & Co., which began 39 years 
ago. The works cover more than an acre of ground, fronting on Tremont 
Street, and extending on Culvert Street to Hampshire Street. The main 
building is of brick, 216 by 37 feet, and two stories high, with L 28 by 60. 
Off from the main building is the blacksmith-shop, 55 by 33 feet; and in an 
adjoining room is a 25-horse-power engine, with a 50-horse-power boiler, 
that operates the machinery. On the south side of the main building is the 
boiler-shop, 100 by 67 feet, containing a powerful s-team-riveter and other 
heavy machinery. At the easterly end of the yard is a two-story warehouse- 
building, used partly for stables. On the Tremont-street front a new ware- 
house, 80 by 35 feet, for finished work, was built in 18S4. This company 
employs 250 or more persons, and strives to secure competent and trust- 
worthy mechanics, to train them to its style of work, and then to give them 
constant employment. It is a principle of the management, to discover the 
value of each workman, and advance him to the position which his merits 
have won. Some of their employes have been in the establishment over 
thirty years. The company is composed of six persons, each owning a 
certain portion of stock. The great specialties of the Whittier Machine 
Company are steam-boilers and steam and hydraulic elevators. The whole 
work in wood, iron, or other materials, necessary to build and put up eleva- 
tors, steam-engines, and boilers, is carried on under one roof. In connec- 
tion with their specialties they own many patents covering recent and 
valuable improvements, one of which allows the combination of a double 
screw with a single winding-drum, without the loss of any of the safeguards 
usual to similar machinery. Anotlier improvement is the lever arrangement, 
by which the slackening of the hoisting-rope from any cause checks the 
motion of the winding-drum, and locks the elevator-car until the rope is 
properly adjusted. Their elevator-cars are used by thousands of people 
every day in all parts of the country ; and the name of the Whittier 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



339 



Machine Company is well known in Boston, New York, and other large 
cities. Many buildings, noticed in this book, have the Whittier elevators. 
Among the buildings in Boston are those of the United-States Post-office, 
the Mutual Life-insurance Company, the Massachusetts Charitable Me- 
chanic Association, the Hotel Vendome, the Hotel Brunswick, the Parker 
House, the Hotel Boylston, Adams House and Revere House, the Hemen- 
way Building, Young's Hotel, the First National Bank, the Merchants' 
National Bank, and the Merchants' Exchange. In New York, Brown 
Brothers & Co., bankers, the Orient Insurance Company, and the Stevens 
Building, all on Wall Street, use the Whittier elevators ; and they are found 
in the "Tribune" and the Welles, Stewart, Astor, Duncan, and Bryant 
Buildings, and the Metropolitan Hotel. They are also used in the Arling- 
ton, the Riggs House, and the Portland, Washington. This company was 
awarded two gold medals for hydraulic elevators, a gold medal for steam 
elevators, and a silver medal for steam boilers, at the Mechanics' Fair in 
1878; and also received the highest award at the Sydney International 
Exhibition at New South Wales in 1879. The works are numbered 11 76 
Tremont Street. The president is Charles Whittier, who, 39 years ago, 
became connected with the firm of Campbell, Whittier, & Co., mentioned 
above ; and the treasurer is A. C. Whittier. This flourishing business 
attains greater dimensions every year. 

The E. Howard \A^atch and Clock Company is a re-organization and con- 
solidation of the former Howard Watch and Clock Company, and of the firm 
of E. Howard & r"^ _^__ ^^ 

Co. In 1842 Ed- 
ward Howard was 
the senior mem- 
ber of the old firm 
of Howard & Da- 
vis. In 1850 he, 
in connection with 
A. S. Dennison, 
became one of the 
chief organizers 
of the Boston 
Watch Company, 
whose manufac- 
tory, on the site of 
the present How- 
ard buildings, was 

the pioneer establishment for making watches in America. Beginning with 
5.000 square feet of floor surface, the works have increased so that they now 




The E. Howard Watch ar 



innpany, 163 Hampden Street. 



340 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

contain more than 100,000 square feet. The original factory building is illus- 
trated on p. 339. It is only one of the group that now constitutes the manu- 
factory wherein are made the high grade of watches and clocks for which this 
company are so widely celebrated. It is the company's constant aim to im- 
prove the quality of their work, and adopt such improvements as experience 
and thought clearly show to be the best; and, as a result, their watches and 
clocks are well known and extensively used throughout the United States and 
the Canadas, especially their clocks for church and town-hall towers, railroad- 
depots, public buildings, manufactories, and pavements. Their electric watch 
clock, for the detection of delinquent watchmen, is considered by experts 
the most perfect clock yet constructed for this purpose. They have had 
great success the past few years, in manufacturing the "old-fashioned hall 
clocks," sometimes called " Grandfather's clocks," ranging in price from $150 
to $1,500 ; those of the latter price having very expensive cases, richly carved, 
and containing the Westminster and Cambridge chimes, with moon and cal- 
endar attachments and mercurial pendulum. Their astronomical clocks are 
in use in most of the leading observatories in the country. Tlie salesrooms 
of the company are at 114 Tremont Street, Boston, 100 State Street, Chicago, 
and 29 Maiden Lane in New York; but their clocks and watches are to be 
obtained of the leading jewellers everywhere. The New- York salesrooms 
are practically a metropolitan exchange for correct time, sojourners from 
all parts of the world resorting there to adjust their watches to standard 
American time. 

The Pope Manufacturing Company has become, within a very short 
space of time, one of the most important and best known of Boston insti- 
tutions, whose works and products are popular all over the country. The 
bicycle, that graceful, noiseless "steed," the wheeled brother of Pegasus, 
although hardly out of its infancy, has so wheeled itself under the hearts of 
our people, as to seem an old acquaintance; and in realizing its permanency 
and necessity we have forgotten its short pedigree. It is now but seven 
years since the Pope Manufacturing Company turned out the first American- 
made machine, yet these few years have given the Columbia bicycle a name 
almost as familiar to city people or country folks as Shakespeare or Robin- 
son Crusoe; and it is quite probable that there are people who have read 
of the Columbia bicycle who have never even glanced through the pages 
of De Foe's masterpiece. From ocean to ocean, and over the ocean, the 
finished results of skill, unusual enterprise, and keen foresight, have raised 
another monument which again casts a shadow over the fair fame of Eng- 
land's boasted handiwork. From a beginning of prospective success, the 
energy and push of this company have i)laced an entirely new industry upon 
a basis firm and permanent, and have given to "The Hub" the largest 
bicycle-house in the world. To Col. Albert A. Pope, the president of the 



KING'S HANDBOOK' OF BOSTON. 



341 



company, is due the remarkable success of an enterprise which started out 
upon an unknown sea of American manufacture. He has held the business 
tiller with firmest grasp, until he not only steered the young company into 
still waters, but has covered it with the iron-plates of certainty. The riding 
of bicycles is growing still more popular among our business men; for it 
furnishes a rapid means of conveyance, and gives a pleasure and exhilara- 
tion which only the wheelman can realize, and no words can describe. The 
weary brain of the professional man finds on the "wheel" a rest for mind, 
and strength for body. The Columbia tricycles, made in two styles (the 
two-track and three-track), " steeds " adapted to general- use by gentlemen 
and ladies, give the "missing link'' which has separated the wife from her 
husband. As have done and are doing the ladies of England, so are doing 
and will do the ladies of our country, — ride over our beautiful roads abreast 
the husbands and fathers ; a whole family on wheels ! The Columbia 
tricycles are beautiful machines, in the construction of which have been 
placed all the skill and experience attainable. They are light, easy-running, 
stanch, and durable. The best workmanship and material have made the 
Expert Columbia bicycle the finest "wheel" in the world; the name of the 
Old Reliable Standard Columbia, a household word ; and the Columbia 
Light Roadster, especially prized by those who prefer the lighter grade of 
"wheel." A visit to the warerooms of the company at 597 Washington 
Street, Boston; 12 Warren Street, New York 5 115 Wabash Avenue, Chi- 
cago ; or to the factory at Hartford, Conn., — will surprise any one. " From 
floor to ceiling, like a huge organ, hang the burnished" wheels, marking not 
only a great and growing industry, but the good common-sense of the people 
in the adoption of a contrivance which gives its rider rapid transit, pleasure, 
exercise, and health, — all for slight cost at the start, and afterward at the 
minimum of expense. 

The Reversible Collar Company has a factory covering 18,000 feet of land 
fronting on Arrow and ]Mount Auburn Streets, m the heart of Cambridge, 
near Harvard College. This vast establishment is a surprise to most people 
as they ride past the extensive buildings, and wonder if all are used in the 
manufacture of collars and cuffs. This company was established in 1866, 
for the manufacture of paper collars and cuffs ; but during the past eight 
years their business has been entirely changed from making the ordinary 
paper goods, to manufacturing the now famous " Linene ' reversible collars 
and cuffs, which are made from several webs of fine muslin united in con- 
tinuous rolls by means of clear starch on patented machines. The united 
material is then calendered to a suitable polish on both sides, and cut into 
the "LINENE" collars and cuffs on machines specially designed to cut 
the peculiar shapes required, by which these collars are made to fit the 
necks of wearers in the most perfect manner. The stitch and finish are 



342 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



such that either side is wearable. The great public have not been slow to 
appreciate the value of the " Linene," as a constantly increasing demand 
demonstrates. 

George K. Snow, the late president and superintendent of the company, 
who invented and patented the first book-folding machine in 1850, was also 
the originator and patentee of many machines used in the manufacture of 




Reversible Collar Company's Works at Cambridge. 

collars and cuffs. Mr. Snow died in August, 1885, after a long and useful 
career, Eben Denton is the treasurer, and attends to the general business 
of the company at 27 Kilby Street (room 12), lioston. 

Dame, Stoddard, & Kendall are the successors of Bradford & Anthony, 
whose business was originally established in 1800 by Samuel Bradlee. He 
was succeeded in 1848 by Martin L. Bradford. In 1856 Nathan Anthony 
was admitted as partner, and the firm of Bradford & Anthony was formed. 
The new firm followed the successful career of Mr. Bradlee; and its business 
constantly increased, both in scope and amount. A temporary interruption 
was occasioned by the Great Fire of 1872, which destroyed their wholesale 
and retail stores, containing large and valuable stocks of goods. After that 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 343 

fire, with unshaken credit, undiminished energy, and guided by a ripe experi- 
ence, their business was re-organized on a more extended basis than before. 
The building No. 374 Washington Street was designed by the well-known 
Boston architect, Nathaniel J. Bradlee, whose father established the business. 
It was erected expressly for this firm, and furnished throughout with every 
device to facilitate their extensive business. The wholesale and retail depart- 
ments are now under the same roof, and occupy all the floors and basement 
of the building. The firm are large dealers in cutlery and fancy hardware, 
and have connection with the best houses in Europe. They are among the 
heaviest American importers of goods in their line from England, France, 
Germany, and Sweden, and are also the sole agents for the United States of 
several foreign firms as well as of various manufacturers in this country. 
At the International Exhibition at Philadelphia, in 1876, they received a 
medal and the "cordial thanks" of the U. S. Fish-Commission for "the col- 
lective exhibit in exhaustive variety of anglers' apparatus and fishing-tackle," 
all of which was contributed from their stock. This collection was bought 
entire by the Smithsonian Institution, and deposited in the National Museum 
at Washington, to illustrate all existing methods of catching fish. Dame, 
Stoddard, & Kendall's business, probably the oldest of its kind in this 
country, stands unquestionably first in rank. Its customers are found in 
every State and Territory of the Union. The firm name was changed to its 
present style in 1882, upon the retirement of Mr. Bradford, not long after 
the death of Mr. Anthony, which occurred in 1881. The partners now are 
Warren S. Dame, O. H. P. Stoddard, and Ralph M. Kendall, all of whom 
have been connected with the business for a long series of years. 

Fairbanks, Brown, & Co. represent E. & T. Fairbanks & Company of 
St. Johnsbury, Vt., the world-famous scale-makers. The business of the 
Fairbanks began in 1825, and now gives employment to about 1,000 men. 
The workshops at St. Johnsbury are solidly built of brick, and have a floor- 
area of 8^ acres. The corporation owns 93 tenement-houses, a saw-mill, 
and 6,000 acres of timber-land, all connected with the works ; 4,000 tons of 
coal, 8,000 tons of iron, and 2,000,000 feet of lumber are yearly consumed. 
The annual product of this factory, last year, was 83,000 scales of every 
style, size, and value. The quality of these scales is unequalled by those 
of any other maker in the world. The corporation has twenty-eight busi- 
ness depots in this country, a large establishment in London, and branches 
all over the world. In 1877 a large five-story warehouse was erected for 
the Boston branch at 83 Milk Street, fronting Post-Ofiice Square. The 
fronts, 27 feet on Milk Street and 95 feet on Congress Street, are of light 
Ohio sandstone. The building in appearance is characteristic of the solid 
concern that occu})ies it; and the architect, Nathaniel J. Bradlee, fully con- 
sidering the needs of the business, adapted the building to them. It is in 



344 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



one of the very best locations, and is surrounded by the new Post-Office and 
the buildincrs of the New-England Life, the Mutual Life, and the Equitable 




FAJRBANKS, BROWN, & CO.. MILK AND CONGRESS STREETS 

Life Insurance Companies, described heretofore. The lower floors contain 
a beautiful display of Fairbanks scales, and also type-writers, money-drawers, 
coffee-mills, store-trucks, and other articles of useful store equipments. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



345 



Joseph T. Brown & Co., 504 Washington Street, celebrated in the spring 
of 18S1 the fiftieth anniversary of their existence as a firm, and as the con- 
stant occupants of the same site. This firm represents a family of druggists. 
The present head of the house is one of four brothers, all of whom have 
been separately engaged in the same business. Joseph T. Brown, in his 
sixteenth year, came to Boston as an apprentice to his oldest brother, and 
began as an independent druggist in 1831 at the corner where the firm is still 
located. In due time his son Joseph T. Brown, jun., became a partner with 
his father; and in 1872 Charles H. Bassett, who began as a clerk in the 
house, and now has charge of the wholesale department, was admitted as the 
third partner. All of the firm 
are members of the Massachu- 
setts College of Pharmacy ; and 
the clerks in their employ are 
obliged to attend the instruc- 
tions of the college, and obtain 
its diploma, as a condition of 
service. A special feature of 
the business of the house is the 
manufacture of their own phar- 
maceutical preparations and 
druggists' specialties. They 
long ago established a high 
reputation in this branch of 
pharmacy; and physicians make 
a point of coming or sending to 
them for rare articles and new 
preparations which cannot be 
found elsewhere. Aside fr(3m 
this general manufacturing, 
which is partly for the whole- 







Joseph T. Brown & Co , 5C4 Wasr.ington Street 



sale trade, they do a large prescription business, and are among the best- 
known chemists in the city. One can always rely upon their preparations 
as being of the very best materials, and compounded with the greatest care- 
fulness and scientific precision. This fact, joined with their long-established 
reputation, has given the house peculiar, if not exceptional, opportunities to 
fill special orders from all parts of New England. The store is notable for 
its remarkably fine wood-carvings, which arch the way from the shelves to 
the ceiling; and the building is made conspicuous by the large pestle and 
mortar which stand at the corner of the roof, marking the locality with the 
ancient and time-honored emblems of the science of pharmacy, now so. 
important a factor in civilization. 



346 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

D. P. Ilsley & Co., 381 Washington Street, is one of those firms that 
are indispensable in every large city. People desire changes, every now 
and then, in what they wear ; and, consequently, there must be experts who 
understand what will satisfy the public taste at each new turn. Necessarily 
some firms cater exclusively to the buyers of cheap goods ; and there are 
others whose patrons demand the best quality, the most exquisite taste, or 
both combined. Among the latter class of firms can justly be ranked D. P. 
Ilsley & Co., who for over twenty years have done a great work in bringing 
before the people of Boston all that the most cultured taste or most com- 
petent judges could wish for, in hats, furs, umbrellas, canes, and articles 
belonging to a stock of this kind. The senior member has had a constant 
experience of thirty-five years in this trade, and the fully deserved success 
bears witness that this experience has been put to good use. The stock 
comprises not only the best wares manufactured in this country, but also 
those of foreign countries, the selections being made by personal visits of 
Mr. Ilsley. A specialty is made of gratifying the desires of every one ; and 
all styles, shapes, or qualities of hats and furs are made to order if not on 
hand. Messrs. Ilsley & Co. have occupied the same store, which is a model 
of neatness, since they began business; and their customers include many 
of the wealthiest and most fashionable families of Boston and vicinity, and 
also the students of Harvard University and other well-known institutions 
of learning. The stock of furs kept here includes every variety in use in 
New England, from the various fur-lined cloaks so extensively worn, and 
fur-lined coats and caps for gentlemen, to rich seal-skin garments in great 
variety, and other articles made from materials even more precious. A 
specialty is also made of livery furs, all grades of which can be supplied 
here. A large room is also devoted to the ladies' hat trade, a department 
of Messrs. Ilsley & Co.'s business which has been very successful, and has 
won a fame which extends all over the country. By frequent visits to 
London and Paris, and an extensive connection with the best English and 
French artists in millinery, the managers of this department are kept en 
rapport with the latest ideas in their line, and are enabled to introduce many 
attractive novelties to their patrons. The back part of the establishment is 
divided into two spacious apartments, one of which is for the ladies' hat 
trade, and the other for all manner of ladies' furs. The firm greatly aug- 
mented their accommodations in 1883, by occupying the adjacent extensive 
store at 381 Washington Street, fitting it up handsomely, and meeting the 
continual enlargement of their business with more roomy and ample accom- 
modations. Here may be found every variety of ladies' and gentlemen's 
hats, furs, and umbrellas, English, French, or American, the best of goods, 
set forth in the most attractive and convenient manner, and in a large, light, 
and cheery store, so that an inspection of the stock will well repay a visit. 




Departments for Ladies' Hats and Furs ; Gentlemen's Hats, Furs, Canes, Umbrellas, etc. 
D. P. ILSLEY & CO., HATTER AND FURRIER, 381 WASHINGTON STREET. 



348 



KING 'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON 



Hogg, Brown, & Taylor occupy the large granite building on the north- 
west corner of Washington Street and Temple Place, including Nos. 477 to 
481 Washington Street, and Nos. 60 to 70 Temple Place. The building is 
100 by 84 feet. It has on its four floors and basement a floor surface of 
about an acre. It was built in 1863-64, expressly for this firm. Its plain 
and substantial-looking exterior is an indication of the reliable and stanch 
firm that own and occupy the whole building. In 1S57 John Hogg, George 
B. Brown, and John Taylor, under the firm name of Hogg, Brown, & Taylor, 
which has ever since remained unchanged, succeeded to the business of 
Kinmonth & Co., who at that time were everywhere known as one of the 
foremost dry-goods houses in New England. The present firm have not 
only maintained the reputation of their predecessors, but have constantly 




Hogg, Brown, & Taylor, Corner of Washington Street and Temple Place. 

advanced ; and to-day they are known as one of the largest and best houses 
in the dry-goods trade in this country. They are wholesale and retail dealers, 
as well as extensive importers, of dry good-s and all articles usually found 
in the largest dry-goods establishments. A characteristic feature of this 
firm is its quiet way of transacting its business. Hardly ever is its adver- 
tisement seen; and yet the spacious quarters are crowded at all hours of 
the day, for the ladies of Boston and its vicinity know that they can always 
rely on Hogg, Brown, & Taylor for the best and most fashionable goods at 
equitable prices. In the building there are about 200 employes ; and, be- 
sides these, many persons are employed elsewhere fcr making ladies' wear. 
The death of Mr. Taylor in April, 1S75, and the retirement of Mr. Brown in 
the following July, leaves the present firm consisting of John Hogg, Henry 
R. Beal, Albert H. Higgins, and ^Alexander Henderson. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON 



349 



Jones, McDuffee, & Stratton, importers of pottery, glassware, and lamps, 
from original sources m Japan, China, and Europe, are among the relial^le 
firms in this branch of commerce. 

There are few places m Boston where a visitor can spend time more 
satisfactorily than among the thousand specimens of tine art displayed in 
rare pottery in 
this establish- 
ment 

They occupy 
the six floors of 
the building erec- 
ted for them by 
Gardner Brewer, 
on the corner of 
Federal and 
Franklin Streets, 
the site of the old 
Federal- street 
Theatre. 

The business 
was established 
m 1810, by the 
father of ex- 
mayor Otis Nor- 
cross, and has 
gone forward 
prosperously for 
three-quarters of 
a century ; and 
while their trade 
is chiefly whole- 
sale, from dealers 
in almost every 
State in the 
Union, they have 
of late years de- 
veloped a retail department which is one of the important features of 
establishment. 

In the third story, reached by elevator from the main floor, is a beautiful 
suite of aesthetic rooms, parlor, dining-room, and salesroom, with stained-glass 
windows, and broad fire-places. These rooms are filled with rare and costly 
specimens of useful and ornamental pottery and glass, — Royal Worcester, 




Interior of Jones, 



McDuffee, & Stratton's Store, 
Federai Streets. 



corner of Franklin and 



their 



350 



A'lA'G'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



Minton's, Copeland's, Japanese, Old Nankin, Satsuma, Meissen, Coalpont, 
Ridgvvays, and Wedgwood, as well as the best things produced in American 
potteries. 

These rooms and the salesrooms below are among the attractive sights 
of Boston, to which visitors are welcome to view, whether purchasing or 
not. 

For dealers, hotels, family furnishings; or for those seeking wedding 
gifts, this store is among the best in the city. 

Springer Brothers, manufacturers of cloaks for ladies, misses, and chil- 
dren, occupy one of the most conspicuous of the new business blocks. It 
is of sandstone, five stories high, and fronts on three streets, — Essex and 
Chauncy Streets, and Harrison Avenue, — its site having been for many years 

the home of Wendell 
Phillips. In this build- 
ing Messrs. Springer 
Brothers show, in the 
season, upwards of 400 
styles of cloaks, in an 
endless variety of sizes, 
colors, and shapes; be- 
sides a large stock of 
piece-goods, and mate- 
rials from which the 
cloaks are made. In the 
upper stones of this build- 
ing, the finishing-work is 
done; and in another 
large building, in a dif- 
ferent locality, the main 
work of manufacturing is 
done. Some idea of the 
extent of this firm's opera- 
tions can be formed from 
the fact that in busy sea- 
sons 1,200 operatives are 
employed. The firm 
stands in the front rank 
in its line in this country, 
and its business is co-extensive with the boundaries of the United States. 
Its reputation is among the best; the business having been established 
twenty years ago, after the two founders had had a long experience and 
thorough training in the service of some of the leading houses in this indus- 




Sprmger Brothers, Essex Street, Chauncy Street, and Harrison Avenue. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 35 1 

try. The goods produced by the firm are said to be unsurpassed by any of 
their competitors. They range from the lowest to the highest in price ; but 
every garment, even the lowest-priced, undergoes careful inspection in all 
its details. The stock carried is probably equalled by that of few houses 
in this country, and the facilities for rapidly filling the largest or smallest 
orders are certainly not surpassed. The trade built up by this firm also 
bears evidence that Boston is a convenient market, and one, too, from which 
it is advantageous for dealers to get their cloaks, from the fact that the 
styles, sizes, quality, and prices may always be depended on, while the ship- 
ping facilities are as good as those of any city. And it is certainly admissi- 
ble to say, that the success of Springer Brothers, although largely due to 
their own abihty and energy, combined with a long-established business and 
great experience, must also to a certain extent be attributed to the advan- 
tages which Boston offers as a manufacturing centre and a buying market, 
as well as to the many attractions in the artistic and theatrical line which the 
city presents to merchants desiring to combine recreation with business. 
The spacious retail salesroom, on the main floor, is light, cheerful, and 
commodious, with chestnut woodwork, walls of metallic dead gold finish, 
Pompeian panels, ceilings of silver finish, windows curtained with soft gray 
and capped with cathedral glass, gilded pillars, broad upholstered window- 
seats, and floors covered with rugs. Here are shown all the latest varieties 
of ladies' outer garments ; and the spring and fall openings are occasions of 
great interest and attraction. 

The Nonotuck Silk Company of Florence, Mass., although its works 
are about 100 miles away, can be classed among the Boston firms. The 
products of the company, consisting of black and colored machine-twist, 
button-hole twist, and embroidery and sewing silk, are kept and handled in 
very large quantities in Boston. The warerooms at No. 18 Summer Street, 
in the four-story sandstone-front building, are extensively and admirably 
fitted up. The business of the Nonotuck Company, established fifty years 
ago, has a remarkable history. It was the first company in the world to 
manufacture machine-twist. Its works at Florence and Leeds have a floor 
surface of 100,000 square feet, give employment to about 800 operatives, 
and consume more than 200,000 pounds of raw silk each year. The aggre- 
gate length of finished silk from their works exceeds 3,000 miles a day, or 
enough to encircle the globe once a week. The Nonotuck silk and twist 
are sold under the trade-mark names of " Nonotuck" (the early Indian word 
for Northampton) and " Corticelli." A great specialty is made of knitting- 
silk, and silk underwear, hosiery, and mittens, etc. ; and the com.pany's brand 
of "Florence Knitting Silk" has already become famous. The various 
manufactures of this company received medals at Philadelphia in 1876, and 
at Paris in 1878, and New Orleans in 1885, besides many first premiums at 



352 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



state and county fairs and industrial exhibitions. The agency for the New- 
England States is under the charge of George D. Atkins, who has been 
connected with the Nonotuck Company for a quarter of a century, while the 
business has grown from small beginnings to vast dimensions and a well- 
deserved fame, all over the Republic. 

Palmer, Bachelder, & Company, the old and well-known jewelry house, 
and dealers in diamonds, watches, gold and silver goods, opened their new 
store at No. 146 Tremont Street, in August, 1884. It is a charming estab- 
lishment on the most fashionable promenade of the city, in a location to 

command directly the crime de la crane of 
Boston's Back-Bay trade. This firm was 
founded nearly seventy years ago, by 
Thomas A. Davis (afterwards mayor of 
Boston), and in its various styles of Davis, 
Palmer, & Company, Palmers and Bachel- 
ders, and Palmer, Bachelder, & Company, 
has held a deservedly honorable position 
among the oldest of our mercantile houses. 
The co-partnership is now composed of 
Jacob P. Palmer and James A. Laighton, 
who have been members of the firm for 
more than twenty years. Their establish- 
ment was burned in the Great Fire of 
1872; but a temporary store was at once 
opened by them at 31 Temple Place, where 
they remained until their recent store on 
the Sargent estate, Washington Street, was 
built. Here they remained for ten years. 
In the summer of 1884, desiring to secure 
a location more accessible to their city cus- 
tomers, they leased their present desirable 
cjuarters on Tremont Street, between Tem- 
ple Place and West Street, in a block of stores especially devoted to retail 
business. 

Here may be seen many of the choicest productions of the goldsmith, 
the silversmith, the watchmaker, the clockmaker, and the artist, as well as 
the artisan in many departments. 

This firm have been for more than twenty-five years the Boston agents 
for the celebrated Geneva watches of Patek, Philippe, & Co., besides which 
they sell the best products of the Waltham, Elgin, and other American 
factories. They always exhibit a great variety of diamonds and other gems. 
In their silverware department are fancy presentation pieces of sterling 




Palmer, Bachelder, & Co., 146 Tremont Street 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



353 



silverware, in quaint old Marie-Antoinette and other patterns, classic in 
design, with grotesque figures, — triumphs of silver-working worthy of 
Benvenuto Cellini himself, and daintily shown in satin-lined cases. 

The latest opera airs are found here in the form of music-boxes of fine 
quality from Messrs. Troll & Baker, the celebrated manufacturers of orches- 
trions and music-boxes in Geneva. 

The strikingly natural landscapes in oil painting by Mr. W. H. Hilliard, 
R. A. 1880, Paris Salon 1880, 1881, 1882, 1884, — concerning which the late 
Hon. George S. Hillard said, " Each one is a bit of nature imprisoned in a 
frame," — may here be seen, and are for sale by this firm. 

Palmer, Bachelder, & Co., while catering to the aesthetic taste of Boston's 
best retail trade, are also wholesale dealers in all goods in their line ; and 
they do a large business, supplying latest styles of stock to watch-makers 
and jewellers throughout New England. 

S. S. Pierce & Company, the foremost house in the fine-grocery trade 
in New England, occupies the main floor and cellars of the magnificent new 
Hemenway Building, at the corner of Tremont and Court Streets (on the 
site of the venerable building illustrated on page 13). It was founded in 
October, 1831, by Samuel S. Pierce, and for many years had an exclusively 
family trade, the goods being delivered to the neighbors in a wheelbarrow 
borrowed from the contiguous parsonage of the Brattle-street Church. The 
business gradually extended from these slender beginnings, until it has 
become favorably known all over the United States, and wherever American 
naval ships are seen. Before the war, the supply-ships bound for the west 
coast of Africa and the Mediterranean received the choicest parts of their 
cargoes from this establishment. 

The founder of the house died in 1881, and was succeeded by his son 
Wallace L. Pierce, and Charles L. Eaton, who together form the copartner- 
ship of to-day. Importing directly from foreign houses, and buying domestic 
goods from the manufacturers, this house is enabled to save all inter- 
mediate profits in the interest of their patrons. Their store is the hand- 
somest one for the purpose in New England, and looks out favorably on 
Scollay Square and Governor Winthrop's monument. Below is a spacious 
and well-lighted cellar crowded with goods, and communicating with the 
cigar storage-vaults on one side, and below with the lofty sub-cellar where 
slumber scores of pipes and puncheons of old Duff-Gordpn sherries, Ma- 
deiras of 1820, ports and Malmseys, gins and whiskies, and other choice old 
liquors. 

This firm were the first (and are still the chief) importers of Roeder's 
Wiesbaden preserved fruits, Philippe & Canaud's canned trufiles ^nd pdfes 
lie foie gras, Hurlimann's Swiss table honey, and other rare delicacies. 
They also handle great quantities of macaroni and spaghetti, chutney and 



354 AVNG'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

soy, salad oils and olives, American and foreign canned goods and preserves, 
besides the more staple groceries ; supplying many great hotels and vessels, 
besides thousands of the best families of Eastern Massachusetts. 

The cigar department in this store has within a few years assumed great 
proportions, and there is but one concern in Boston that imports a larger 
number. A generous space on the Tremont-street side is reserved for these 
goods, the reserve supplies of which are kept in damp-proof and heat-proof 
vaults below. Here are great varieties of Havanas, Murias, Cabanas, Henry 
Clays, etc.; rare old Manilas in their fragrant East-Indian packages, the 
best grades of domestic cigars, and all kinds of cigarettes. 

Another department is devoted to hundreds of varieties of perfumed 
soaps, 'colognes, and other preparations and articles used in the toilet. 

Among the fine teas sold here at the lowest prices are the best products 
of Formosa, Assam, and Japan, and choice Hysons and Souchongs. The 
coffees include those of Java, Mocha, and Ceylon. There are Epps's and 
Baker's and the French chocolates and cocoas ; molasses of Porto Rico 
and New Orleans ; the best of flour of Minnesota, w^heats, rye-meal, samp, 
and oatmeals; spices and herbs of every kind; dried fruits, like raisins, 
currants, prunes, and figs ; pickles and sauces enough for a Calcutta nabob ; 
canned goods and marmalades in appetizing diversity ; and, in fact, all the 
manifold lines of goods that are necessary to the comfort and luxury of a 
well-appointed domestic commissariat. 

Horace Partridge & Co., one of the largest importing houses in the toy 
and fancy-goods trade, was founded in 1848, by Horace Partridge, the 
present head of the house. For about a dozen years its store was on 
Federal Street; but for a quarter of a century it has been on Hanover 
Street. The firm has twice been strengthened by taking in new partners ; 
one of whom, Benjamin F. Hunt, jun., is now the head of the wholesale 
department, and the other, Frank P. Partridge (the son of the founder of 
the house), is at the head of the retail business. In 1885 the firm opened a 
large and attractive store at 497 and 499 Washington Street, for the sale at 
retail of toys and games ; and here may be found a vast variety of these 
goods, of all makes, grades, and prices. The wholesale business is carried 
on at Nos. 51, 53, y^, and 57 Hanover Street, where a great five-story build- 
ing is occupied by a vast stock of all varieties of toys, games, fancy goods, 
etc. The reserve stock is kept in storehouses on Broad Street. 

Horace Partridge & Co. make a specialty of out-door games, such as 
lacrosse and polo, and all varieties of base-ball goods. Their wholesale 
trade in croquet-sets is an important item, and provides resources for amuse- 
ment for half the villages of New England. In lawn-tennis the firm has 
built up an extensive business, having for several years had the Harvard 
patronage ; while their Peerless racket is now quite the most popular one 




i" ' ! i! % 







! „ 

'^■^ - . , 

9!! s i 9 ; ; III ii 




KIiVG'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



155 



in America. Admirers of archery, quoits, foot-ball, and other out-door 
games, will find here all articles needful to their pleasure. Here also are 
all kinds of tents and canopies for lawns and gardens, roller-skates in great 
variety, and a large number of in-door games and appliances for gymnastics. 
The firm keeps on hand a large line of bicycles and tricycles. 

In the departments of toys and games, etc., are stored an almost infinite 
number of articles ; enough, it would seem, for all the children of America 
during ten generations. But each year brings new and larger accessions 
to the stock, to make good the steady drain of goods sent out to supply 
the wants of thousands of merchants all over the Union. 

The trade of this concern is distributed all over the United States, and 




^m-»r-f^5[|3=Rr- , 






p^l 



fi.lSll 



\mm 



IEZ3B 






\ 1 



Horace Partridge & Co., 51, 53, 55 and 57 Hanover Street. 

is carried forward by a number of active travelling salesmen, who introduce 
Partridge's wares wherever children are found. The firm has vast ware- 
rooms at No. 23 Park Place, New York, and offices at No. 148 Wabash 
Avenue, Chicago. 

The firm also has the sole agency of the Union Web Hammock Com- 
pany of Gloucester, whose goods are extensively used in Europe as well 
as in America. Twenty-five thousand of these hammocks are sold here 
every year. Here also is the controlling agency for several other large 
American establishments of similar kind, as well as of some of the chief 
German manufacturers. Their importations are of almost incredible ex- 
tent. Three thousand cases of goods have been brought into the port of 
Boston by a single steamship, consigned to this house. 



356 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



Lewando's French Dye-house is rapidly becoming one of the best-known 
and most useful establishments in Boston. The extensive works are at 
Watertown, Mass., on the banks of the Charles River, and constantly 
employ upwards of one hundred persons. The apparatus includes many 
odd pieces of machinery for operating the valuable processes, peculiar alone 
to this estabhshment. The chief work is the dyeing and cleansing of every 
kind of textile fabric. The dyeing is in all colors produced at any dye-house 
in this country, and is done on piece-goods and garments of every size, 
shape, or quality. The cleansing is by an exclusive French process known as 
" dry-cleansing," enabling this firm to cleanse all fabrics, dresses, gentlemen's 
clothes, silks, gloves, laces, ribbons, curtains, feathers, shawls, and all similar 
goods, without injuring or even taking to pieces the garments. By the pro- 
cesses in use at Lewando's dye-house, the most perfect dyeing and cleansing 




Lewando's French Dye-works, Watertown, Mass. 

can be obtained. The managers, too, are most enterprising people, and con- 
tinually put forth every effort to satisfy their many customers. They make 
it easy for people to patronize them by having offices not only at Watertown, 
and at the main office, 17 Temple place, Boston, but also at 270 Westminster 
Street, Providence, R.I.; 2 Park Square, Lynn, Mass.; 2206 Washington 
Street, Highlands ; and 393 Broadway, South Boston. Besides having these 
several offices, they send their wagons to any address in New York, Boston, 
Newport, and Philadelphia, to get and return large or small bundles of 
goods to be cleansed or dyed. A specialty is made of delivering goods at 
exactly the time promised, and of charging in all cases only the lowest 
equitable price. The greatest care is taken to avoid the wrong delivery of 
goods, or the slightest damage to any work. When tlicre is the slightest 



KING 'S HA NDB OOK OF B OS TON. 357 

doubt of obtaining desired results, the patron is plainly told so in advance. 
Goods are cleansed and dyed for people in every State in the Union; and 
pamphlets telling how to send goods can be had free by addressing Lewando's 
French Dye-house, 17 Temple Place, Boston. 

Otis Clapp & Son, the well-known homoeopathic pharmacists and manu- 
facturers and importers of homoeopathic goods, are located at No. 3 Beacon 
Street, opposite the Tremont House. This firm is, with one exception, the 
oldest-established homoeopathic pharmacy in this country. Its growth has 
been co-extensive with the growth of homoeopathy in New England. Otis 
Clapp, its founder and present senior partner, commenced business with a very 
limited stock of goods, in 1840, at No. 121 Washington Street, when there 
were but three or four physicians of this school in Boston, and but few in its 
vicinity. In 1841 the pharmacy was removed to School Street, and in 1855 to 
its present location on Beacon Street. In the summer of 1880 extensive ad- 
ditions and improvements were made to their premises, so as to make it one 
of the largest and most complete pharmacies of this class in the world. 

The Messrs. Clapp manufacture in their laboratory such medical prep- 
arations as are made from plants indigenous to this country, and import 
extensively from Germany and England such as are native to Europe. They 
also are large importers of sugar-of-milk and other products used in their 
special branch of trade. 

The preparation of "triturations" — drugs pulverized with sugar-of-milk, 
a form of attenuating and dispensing remedies peculiar to homoeopaths — 
forms one important branch of their manufactures, and is carried on in mills 
by the aid of electricity as a motive power. 

Connected with their establishment is a "case-department,"' where is 
manufactured the finest of morocco-work, in the form of medicine and surgical 
cases for pocket and carriage use ; also mahogany chests, and other cases, 
for domestic practice. Their patrons to this department are not limited to 
simply homoeopathic jDractitioners, and others who adopt this method of 
practice, but include many others desirous of obtaining the best quality 
of goods of this class. 

The firm are also publishers of, and dealers in, medical works, including 
"The New-England Medical Gazette," a monthly journal edited by Dr. J. 
P. Sutherland of Boston, which, in its list of subscribers, includes physicians 
in almost every State in the Union. This concern is also the Boston depot 
through which the trade is supplied wnth that justly celebrated beverage, 
" Epps' Cocoa/' which is now sold by every first-class grocer. 

A visit to this establishment affords many themes of interest, in the 
various preparations and specifics in use by the homoeopathic school of 
physicians. The stock is arranged and displayed with great skill and perfect 
system; and every variety of medicine used by the adherents of this science 



358 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

may be found here, in the best preparations, and always ready for delivery. 
The very best and choicest drugs and simples are used, and their preparation 
is watched over with the most scrupulous care. 

Ginn & Company, the publishers, have spacious and pleasant offices 
looking out upon the old historic Granary Burying-ground, and adjoining 
the Boston Athenseum. 

The basis of the present house was the publication of Allen's Latin 
books in 1868. Allen and Greenough's Latin Grammar came a little 
later, with a series of Latin texts. Of these books the eminent philologist 
Professor F. A. March has said, " Their introduction marks the most im- 
portant advance in linguistic study which has been made for many genera- 
tions ; " a verdict well sustained by their extensive adoption in the best 
classical schools of the country. Ginn & Company have now in preparation 
a " College Series of Latin Authors," edited by Professors Clement L. Smith 
of Harvard, and Tracy Peck of Yale, and other eminent scholars. 

Goodwin's Greek Grammar, first published in 1870, introduced a series of 
publications in that language that are represented in almost every classical 
school in the land. The grammar has been republished in England, and 
pronounced by The London Athenicum, and many other authorities, "the 
best Greek grammar of its size in the English language." A very important 
enterprise in the interest of American scholarship is the " College Series of 
Greek Authors," edited by Professors White of Harvard and Seymour of 
Yale, with the co-operation of a large number of our leading Greek scholars. 

Dr. Hudson's books in English literature are too generally known to 
require comment. His "Harvard Shakspeare" is highly esteemed by 
Shakspearians in all countries, and the popular school editions have been 
marked by the same critical genius. Many other valuable books in higher 
English might be named. 

The mathematical department embraces works by Byerly, Pierce, Went- 
worth, and others. Wentworth's series covers the entire mathematical 
requirements of primary, grammar, and high schools, and includes several 
branches of the college course. Professor Wentworth's books have been 
more successful than any similar publications ever issued in this country. 

Another important line is music. The "National System of Music," 
prepared by Messrs. Mason, Eichberg, and Sharland, has not only enjoyed 
extraordinary popularity in this country, but has been indorsed by leading 
musical authorities in European countries, and adopted for Japan. The 
music now taught in all the schools of Japan is called " The Mason Song." 

A series entitled " Classics for Children," now being issued, promises to 
have very great influence on the educational world. Its aim is to put into 
the hands of children between 9 and 12 years of age the standard works of 
English literature, complete as far as possible. Where it is necessary to 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 359 

abridge, it is done by simple omission, without interfering with the con- 
tinuity or value of the work in any respect. Elementary notes are given 
to enable the young to understand these authors. 

It has been found that only about one pupil in twenty-five, in the most 
favored localities, ever receives the advantage of any training beyond the 
grammar school. This course is planned to give the other twenty-four a 
chance to know something of the value of literature. 

Many other departments might be mentioned, among them history, 
science, French, Spanish, mental and moral philosophy, and Anglo-Saxon. 

D. Lothrop & Co., one of the foremost publishing houses of America, 
occupy the spacious and commodious building on the corner of Franklin 
and Hawley Streets, in the centre of the great book-quarter of Boston, and 
in close proximity to Washington Street and the great movement of daily 
life along the main artery of the city. The founder and manager of this 
famous house is Daniel Lothrop, who was born at Rochester, X.H., in 1831, 
of the best Puritan lineage, being a descendant of John Alden and his wife 
Priscilla. 

After receiving a good academy education in his native State, and estab- 
lishing several successful business enterprises there, still caring for these 
Eastern interests (including his celebrated book-store at Dover, N.H., long 
considered one of the finest in New England), he went out into the Minne- 
sota Valley, where he took a prominent part in the upbuilding of the infant 
town of St. Peter; establishing a permanent business there, which he left in 
the hands of a faithful clerk to whom he gave an interest in his Western 
business. In 1868 he leased the stores 38 and 40 Cornhill, Boston, where 
he founded his publishing business, for which he had been many years pre- 
paring ; and this enterprise met with such notable success that eight years 
later he was obliged to seek more spacious quarters in the building owned 
by Harvard College, on Franklin Street, and which he still continues to 
occupy. The first floor, 120 by 40 feet in area, is one of the finest book- 
salesrooms in the country. 

On the second floor are the private offices of Mr. Lothrop, with the edi- 
torial office of " Wide Awake," etc. The third floor is occupied by the com- 
posing-rooms and the mailing-rooms of the various periodicals, and the 
fourth floor contains the bindery. He has also leased for a term of years 
a five-story building on Purchase Street, which is used as a warehouse, and 
for printing and binding. These buildings can accommodate only a portion 
of the immense work done by the house, which has to be provided for else- 
where. The entire business is in the most flourishing condition, and yearly 
assumes greater proportions. 

The chief corner-stone on which all this great establishment became 
securely founded was Mr. Lothrop's faith in the value and necessity of good 



360 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

and pure literature, especially for the young, and the great desirability of 
placing it in the hands of the people all over the country. His two cardinal 
principles have been : " Never to publish a work purely sensational, no mat- 
ter what chance of money it has in it ; " and, " To publish books that will 
make true and steadfast growth in right living." In pursuance of this plan, 
at the very beginning of his publishing business, he formed a triumvirate 
of critics and salaried readers of manuscripts, composed of the Rev. Dr. 
George T. Day of Dover, N.H. ; the Rev. Dr. J. E. Rankin ; and Professor 
Heman Lincoln, D.D., of Newton Seminary. Every manuscript published 
by D. Lothrop & Co. must have had the approval of one or more of these 
eminent Christian scholars ; and the result has been the publication of great 
libraries of the best of books for the Sunday school, the town, and the 
family. 

Mr. Lothrop is steadily widening his field of publication. His later 
issues include some of the choicest translations of the classics, and repre- 
sent the most noted authors of this and other countries. 

Another prominent I'eature of this house is its serial publications, at the 
head of which is " Wide Awake," a magazine for the family and the young 
folks, edited with remarkable ability, contributed to by the best American 
and foreign writers, and very richly illustrated. The same editors who 
have made this a success, also conduct " Babyland," a bright and winsome 
magazine for mothers to show to and read to their infants. The ages be- 
tween these two publications are served by " Our Little Men and Women," 
a magazine for children just learning how to read and spell ; "The Pansy," 
a handsome little weekly pictorial paper; and "The Chautauqua Young 
Folks' Journal." Older readers find their attraction in the handsome literary 
quarterly entitled " The Boston Book Bulletin," in which new books are 
reviewed and discussed, and general news of the book-world is given. 

Ticknor & Co., the publishers, have their offices and book-rooms at No. 
211 Tremont Street, in the handsome white-granite building one square 
south of the Common, and running back to the grounds of the Public 
Library. Here also is the office of "The American Architect," an illus- 
trated weekly of great value and extensive circulation ; and the licadquarters 
of the Heliotype Printing Company. 

The best traditions of the book-trade of Boston centre around this firm, 
over whose imprint were published the works of Longfellow, Whittier, Low- 
ell, Holmes, Hawthorne, Emerson, Thoreau, Mrs. Stowe, and other leaders 
in American literature, and also many editio«s of Dickens, Thackeray, Scott, 
Tennyson, George Eliot, and other noted British authors. They also pub- 
lished "The Atlantic Monthly," "Our Young Folks," "Every Saturday," 
" The North-American Review," and other well-known serials. Away back 
in the year 1S32, William D. Ticknor, a relative of tlic historian of Spanish 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON 



361 




362 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

literature, opened " The Old Corner Bookstore." After the first two years, 
during which John Allen was in company with him, Mr. Ticknor for eleven 
prosperous years conducted the business alone, and made the corner of 
School and Washington Streets the favorite resort of literary New-England- 
ers and visitors from abroad. In 1845 appeared the imprint of Ticknor & 
Co. ; afterwards becoming Ticknor, Reed, & Fields, through the admission 
to the firm of John Reed and James T. Fields, then a young man, who had 
been brought up in the store. Later, upon Mr. Reed's retirement, the im- 
print became Ticknor & Fields, and remained so until 1870. Mr. Ticknor 
was on terms of close intimacy with the leading authors of England and 
America, and especially with Hawthorne, who frequently accompanied him 
on long journeys. It was while they were bound for Washington, in 1864, 
that the great publisher died, in the Continental Hotel at Philadelphia. 
The shock of this event undoubtedly hastened the death of Hawthorne, 
which occurred a few weeks later. Howard M. Ticknor succeeded his 
father in the publishing house ; and James R. Osgood, a graduate of Bow- 
doin College, joined the co-partnership, which was also strengthened by the 
accession of Benjamin H. Ticknor, the present head of the house. On Mr. 
Fields's retiring, in 1870, the firm took the name of James R. Osgood & Co., 
and so remained until 1878, when it was consolidated with H. O. Houghton 
& Co., under the title of Houghton, Osgood & Co. In 1880 this concern 
divided into two houses, — Houghton, Mifflin & Co., and James R. Osgood 
& Co. On the retirement of Mr. Osgood, in 1885, Benjamin H. Ticknor and 
Thomas B. Ticknor, both sons of William D. Ticknor, the founder of the 
original house, associated with themselves George F. Godfrey, of a promi- 
nent family of Bangor, and restored the time-honored imprint of Ticknor & 
Co. to American belles-lettres. Among the authors whose works appear on 
their list, are Howells, James, Julian Hawthorne, " Uncle Remus," Blanche 
W. Howard, Edgar Fawcett, George W. Cable, E. W. Howe (the phenome- 
nal Kansas novelist), Robert Grant, James Freeman Clarke, Nora Perry, 
and Edmund Quincy. 

The great " Memorial History of Boston," combining the work of seventy 
distinguished specialists in four beautiful quarto volumes, with many hundred 
illustrations, is one of Ticknor & Co.'s publications. The Ticknor series 
of American guide-books were lately characterized by " The New- York Trib- 
une " as " much the best we have ever had in this country." The illustrated 
gift-books of this firm include many handsome art-works, and holiday editions 
of famous poems, — " Lucile," " The Lady of the Lake," "The Princess," 
and " Marmion," with numerous wood-cuts from drawings by celebrated 
artists. Among their latest books appear Howells's richly illustrated " Tus- 
can Cities," Morse's beautiful "Japanese Homes and their Surroundings," 
and a sumptuous holiday edition of " Childe Harold." 



A'lA'G'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 363 

D. Appleton & Co., the celebrated booksellers of New York, founded 
a branch house in Boston in 1874, opening in rooms at No. 22 Hawley 
Street, and intended to supply their Eastern New-England trade, and to 
keep on exhibition a full line of the publications of the house. In 1879 
the Boston office was moved to No. 6 Hawley Street; and in 1883 it took 
up its abode in its present spacious and elegant quarters, in the stately 
Gothic building at No. 92 Franklin Street. Here a large stock is kept ready 
for the demands of trade, and the establishment is more extensive and con- 
venient than most of the Boston publishing houses. Wilber C. Babcock, 
the manager of this office, is a veteran in the book-trade, and attends closely 
to the New-England business of D. Appleton & Co., that great house of 
which Derby says, " It stands without a rival in America, and probably in 
the world, in the variety and entirety of its publications. Other houses 
may have a larger list of miscellaneous and standard publications ; but the 
publications of D. Appleton & Co. represent the whole range of literature, 
from a spelling-book, of which a million copies are annually sold, to the 
monumental enclyclopasdia, of which a million dollars' worth are sold every 
year." 

Williams & Everett's Fine-Art Galleries. — This firm have been so long 
engaged in business, that their store is famous ; and no one can say that he 
has seen Boston till he has been in their splendid new print-shop and pic- 
ture-gallery, at 79 Boylston Street, opposite the Public Garden. The busi- 
ness was established in 18 10, when John Doggett and S. S. WilHams opened 
a store in Cornhill. Since that time there have been only five changes in 
location, and but five changes in organization. The present style of the fi^rm 
was adopted in 1853. The members of the firm are Dudley Williams and 
H. D. Williams. 

The new store on Boylston Street was occupied in the summer of 1885 ; 
the firm desiring to get a quieter locality than that in which they had been 
on Washington and Bedford Streets, and a gallery where the hght would 
be better. The new store, which was built expressly for this firm, runs 
through from Boylston Street, opposite the Public Garden, to Park Square, 
opposite the Providence depot, and is crowded with the choicest works of 
art. The architectural adornment of the interior, designed by George A. 
Clough of Boston, is purely English Renaissance, with carved wood and 
heavy beams in sight. On one side is a handsome fireplace, with an im- 
mense carved chimney-piece extending to the ceiling. The grand staircase 
ascends thence to the suite of picture-galleries, extending from the carved- 
wood coign which looks down into the store to the balcony overlooking Park 
Square. The wainscoting is surmounted by pomegranate hangings, and the 
ceiling above is decorated in plain colors by Frank Hill Smith. The Weston 
system of incandescent electric lights is used through the store and gal- 



364 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

leries. The effect of the entire establishment is of elegance, richness, and 
refined taste. Long known as the pioneer art-store of Boston, their rooms 
have introduced to the public the works of William M. Hunt, Dr. William 
Rimm^r, R. H. Fuller, G. S. Healy, Thomas Hinckley, Mrs. Darrah, and 
other well-known local artists. Here, too, French pictures were first offered 
to Boston buyers. As interest in art has increased, the firm have extended 
their facilities, and have now direct relations with many prominent European 
artists, and with leading European dealers and experts. Their stock is the 
largest in New England, and one of the largest in the country. In the gal- 
leries, regarded as the best in Boston, always open to visitors, are to be seen 
some of the finest pictures of our time, both American and foreign. In the 
store are departments for engravings, water-colors, and photographs. If you 
want a fine engraving, a rare proof, a unique etching, a carbon reproduction of 
a favorite picture by one of the old masters, or a representative work of the 
modern schools, if you desire instructive photographs of ancient sculpture 
or classic ruin, you are sure to find them in the ample folios of this estab- 
lishment. Frames and pictures- are so closely connected, that the firm have 
always made a specialty of picture, portrait, and mirror frames. For this 
work they have a well-organized factory, and employ from thirty to fifty skil- 
ful workmen. Artistic styles and thorough workmanship have given them 
pre-eminence, and secured them customers all over the country. Artists 
realize the importance of appropriate frames for pictures ; and many promi- 
nent painters, from Gilbert Stuart and Washington Allston of early days to 
William M. Hunt, George Fuller, and others of later date, have been quite 
content to trust this matter to the taste and judgment of this house. The 
new building of Williams & Everett has its main front on Boylston Street, 
No. 79, while the L-front is at 18 Park Square. The illustration gives a 
view of the lower store, with the great chimney-piece and the stanxase 
leading to the galleries, which are continually visited by the best people 
of Boston. 

Frost & Adams, whose store occupies the entire five-story building at 
37 Cornhill, are the chief dealers in artists' materials in New England, and 
the largest American importers of Winsor & Newton's celebrated goods. 
The establishment was founded by Matthew J. Whipple, fifty years ago, 
close to its present site; and in 1867 it was bought out by F. S. Frost, a 
professional artist, and E. H. Adams, who had been for many years a clerk 
with Mr. Whipple. In 1872 Mr. Frost bought out Mr. Adams; and in 1880 
took into partnership H. A. Lawrence (who entered the establishment as a 
clerk in 1867) and F. J. Pope. In 1884 they bought out A. A. Walker & 
Company, 538 Washington Street, which is now run as an up-town retail 
store, under the direction of Mr. Pope. The business on Cornhill, which 
pertains to Messrs. Frost and Lawrence alone, is large, prosperous, and 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



365 




366 



A'/NG'S HANDBOOK- OF BOSTON. 



increasing, and is served by a corps of experienced clerks and salesmen. 
Five-sixths of the trade is wholesale, extending throughout New England, 
the Middle and Western States, and Canada, and kept in activity by travel- 
ling salesmen. In addition to the spacious accommodations in their main 
building, the firm has two floors at No. 69 Cornhill, devoted to manu- 
facturing, and several large storage and packing rooms at No. 34 Cornhill. 
The stock includes all the materials used by painters, engravers, etchers, 
repousse-workers, china-painters, crayon artists, water-colorists, tapestr}-- 
painters, architects, engineers, and draughts- 
men. Frost & Adams's has been the depot of 
supplies for Hunt, Inness, Neal, Brown, Cole, 
Enneking, Norton, Vinton, Picknell, Gaugen- 
gigl, Shapleigh, and other famous artists, who 
have here found the canvases and colors whose 
magic combinations have resulted in such nota- 
ble works of art. 

Another important feature of the trade is in 
architectural instruments and draughting papers, 
which this firm supplies to the city engineers 
and architects of New England. Among their 
patrons are numbered H. H. Richardson, Cabot 
& Chandler, Van Brunt & Howe, Peabody & 
Stearns, and other celebrated architects, whose 
buildings are the pride of New England and of 
the nation. Here, also, is the American agency 
of Levy's (of Paris) blue process-paper and 
architectural photographs. 
A large business is also done in fancy articles for decorating, in bronze 
and brass, porcelain and china, Albertine and Barbotine ware, bisque vases 
and terraline ware, tambourines of sheepskin, calfskin, brass and satin ; 
and frames, panels, and plaques of ebony, mahogany, oak, and whitewood ; 
easels, portfolios, color-boxes, and hundreds of other articles indispensable 
to the amateur artist. New goods arrive every week from the leading 
manufacturers of England, France, Germany, and America, to keep at its 
maximum efficiency this stock of goods, so indispensable to the art-loving 
and cultivated people of New England. 

John A. Lowell & Co. are the leading fine-art engravers in this country, 
and to no other firm is due so much for the progress made in fine-art engrav- 
ing on steel. For twenty-five years Mr. Lowell, with his corps of assistants, 
has been constantly producing novel and ingenious and yet artistic designs, 
which he has had engraved in the finest possible manner on steel. Not only 
do these engravings include commercial stationery, bonds, bills of exchange, 




Frost & Adams, 37 Cornhill. 




'fr^^feja^--^ 



368 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

cards, letter-headings, diplomas, etc., but they consist at present to a great 
extent of purely fine-art work. Hunt's famous " Bathers," for instance, has 
been published, and the list of subscribers includes many of America's art 
connoisseurs. This firm has also created a new industry, — the production 
of steel-engraved cards or folders adapted to business purposes. Steel- 
engraved pictures of any grade of excellence were regarded as too expensive 
for use in this way, and their introduction was attended with considerable 
risk. They became immediately popular, however; and the demand for them 
was so regular that new varieties were issued before the first were harcMy dry 
from the press^ This is true in the experience only of the house of John A. 
Lowell & Co., who were the first to introduce the cards, and whose successful 
efforts have created a livelihood for many imitators. This firm have easily 
kept the lead by employing the best engravers, and securing the services of 
most prominent artists in Boston and New York. It is impossible to describe 
the thousand different designs of the various productions of this firm ; but 
any one can readily see them by asking for them at any leading stationer}-- 
store. The firm has also recently established a fine printing-house, with 
new presses and types, where catalogues, circulars, cards, etc., are printed 
in the t)est and most tasteful manner. They employ in all over loo persons. 

Of late years John A. Lowell & Co. have gi\ien close attention and intelli- 
gent study to the capabilities of the younger American artists, selecting from 
time to time young men of marked originality and ability, and becoming the 
exclusive purchasers of their works. In the development of American art, 
such a policy will have an enormous influence, since the well-known discrimi- 
nation and judgment of this firm will guarantee the excellence of paintings 
in which they seek interest, and thus highly favor both the artist and his patron. 

Among the artists whose best works are exhibited at Lowell's gallery is 
Mr. I. M. Gaugengigl, whose exquisitely finished masterpieces have won him 
the title of "The Meissonier of America." These admirable paintings can 
be procured only from Mr. Lowell, and the time is at hand when no public 
or private collection in America will be complete without a specimen of 
Gaugengigl's choice work. It is hardly five years since Lowell introduced 
this artist to our art-lovers ; and the business methods used in handling his 
works have been so skilful that even now his exquisite little paintings, 
hardly more than a foot square, readily bring from $1,200 to $3,000 each. 
Among the other famous artists whose works are sold here are Charles 
Sprague Pearce, whose pictures have earned a medal at the Paris Salon; 
William E. Norton, the foremost marine-painter of America (now setiled in 
England); and Marcus Waterman, whose Oriental scenes are rich in light 
and color. Mr. Lowell's gallery is one of the most interesting show-places 
of Boston. He spends part of each year in Europe, making a study of the 
works of the younger American painters. 



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KING 'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 369 

The Forbes Lithograph Manufacturing Company is the most complete 
and extensive establishment of its kind in this country. It was started 
many years ago by the present treasurer, and active head of the entire 
establishment, William H. Forbes ; and in 1875 it was incorporated under 
its present name. The main department occupies the large and beautiful 
marble buildings fronting on Devonshire, Franklin, and Arch Streets, with 
the entrance to the offices and specimen-rooms at 181 Devonshire Street. 
The other departments are carried on in a large, four-story stone building 
in the Roxbury district. The various departments embrace printing by all 
known methods, including lithography in all its branches, from the ordinary 
label to fine chromo work, in one or many colors; embossing; type and 
block printing of every class; plate-printing; photography; photo-lith- 
ography; and the Albertype process, by which engravings, photographs, 
drawings, etc., are reproduced, in facswiile, with great delicacy and finish. 
The company give steady work to upwards of 600 hands ; employ a corps 
of 60 designers, engravers, and lithograph artists, — a number far in excess 
of that of any other concern in the business; run 70 presses, and print on 
at least five tons of paper daily. The services of eight stone-grinders, using 
improved machinery, are required to grind and polish the lithograph-stones 
used, of which the company have nearly 200 tons. They manufacture largely 
for the English and German trade, in addition to their domestic orders, which 
are more uniformly from large corporations than those of any house in the 
printing-line. This company does a large share of the theatrical printing 
of all grades ; and in making labels, few houses rival this one in the extent, 
variety, and beauty of its work. With branch-houses in New York and 
Chicago, and an agent in London, this company have a large field to suppl)'. 
The accompanying illustration of the Forbes Lithographing Establishment, 
and also that of the New-England Mutual Life-insurance Company Build- 
ing, are specimens of one class of work done by the Albertype process 
mentioned above. They are photographs made with printers' ink, and are 
therefore as imperishable as ordinary prints. One invaluable result accom- 
plished by the Albertype process is the perfect reproduction of the chief 
line-engravings of all famous artists; the reproductions, practically equal to 
the originals, being sold at only a dollar each. The company, also, by its 
own processes, makes photo-engravings, — a substitute for wood-engraving, 
at half its cost, — for illustrating books, pamphlets, catalogues, etc. It has 
also the American agency for several great foreign houses, such as Raphael 
Tuck & Sons of London, whose holiday and birthday cards and art-special- 
ties stand second to none of their class ; and Max Cremnitz of Paris, whose 
highly finished and elaborately executed glazed tin signs, for business 
advertising, are the choicest of the kind. The company's officers are 
WiUiam P. Hunt, president and William H. Forbes treasurer. 



370 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

L. Prang & Co., Chromo-Lithographers and Fine- Art Publishers. — 

The development of the art of chromo-hthography in America is chiefly 
due to Louis Prang, who was born in Breslau, Prussia, March 12, 1824, and, 
after receiving a thorough art education at the hands of his father and 
others, came to this country as a penniless German political refugee, in 
April, 1850. His fortunes in the United States were more varied than suc- 
cessful until, in 1856, he formed a partnership with a lithographic printer, and 
opened an office at 17 Doane Street, in this city. Mr. Prang by dint of hard 
work had survived all his vicissitudes, and brought to the new firm two or 
three hundred dollars, which was all the capital they had to start with. 
Their specialty was color-work, Mr. Prang polishing the stones, and mak- 
ing the drawing, while his partner did the printing; and with one press and 
a few stones by way of "plant," they executed their first order, a bouquet of 
roses in four colors for a ladies' magazine, now of interest to lithographers 
as one of the first crayon-transfers ever made. During the first years of his 
business, Mr. Prang had a hard struggle, and was compelled to try his hand 
at every detail of the work. He learned each branch gradually, and became 
more and more the master of the situation. In i860 he bought out his 
partner, and adopted the now famous title of L. Prang &: Co. ; but the out 
break of the civil war almost ruined the business he' had laboriously built 
up. He tided over this period by publishing w^ar-maps, portraits of generals, 
and numerous pictures which the times demanded. All this while he had 
but one end in view, — the production of chromo-lithographs which conveyed 
to the eye the beauty and character of the original painting. He returned 
to Europe in 1864, and looked over the whole lithographic field. The next 
year the Bricher landscapes were issued, soon to be followed by Eastman 
Johnson's "Barefoot Boy;'* and the fame of Louis Prang as the leader in 
popular art education was assured. The business had grov/n to such di- 
mensions by 1867, that a manufactory was erected in the Roxbury district 
at 286 Roxbury Street, 134 feet by 34, and four stories high, capable of 
employing one hundred and fifty persons, which in 188 1 w^as enlarged to 
twice its original size, and now furnishes room for three hundred and fifty 
employes. The business has grown beyond precedent, especially in Christ- 
mas, Easter, and anniversary cards, and has extended to all parts of the 
world. Branch houses are now established in New York, Philadelphia, 
Chicago, and San Francisco; and agents are located in London, Vienna, and 
Melbourne, while travelling agents are employed on the east and west coasts 
of South America. Americans have frequently sent abroad for "the finest 
specimens of lithography in Europe," only to receive in return pictures 
which they could have bought for less money of the original manufacturers 
in Boston. L. Prang & Co. rank at this time second to none in the develop- 
ment of popular art in America. 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



371 




372 KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

Rand, Avery, & Co.'s Printing Establishment. — Could " Poor Richard " 
revisit the scenes of his early labors in Boston, he would gaze with mingled 
feelings of astonishment and delight at the immense printing establishment 
of Rand, Avery, & Co., situated in the street so appropriately named after 
their great predecessor, — Franklin. No better illustration could be given 
of the wisdom manifest in Benjamin Franklin's pungent sayings, than where 
he prophetically anticipates the career of this enterprising firm. Poor 
Richard observes, " He that hath a trade hath an estate, and he that hath 
a calling hath an office of profit and honor; but then the trade must be 
worked at, and the calling well followed, or neither the estate nor the office 
will enable us to pay our taxes." For nearly half a century the different 
members of this family have been connected and honorably identified with 
the " art preservative of all arts." From the small beginnings of a single 
job-press, the trade has been well worked at, and the calling diligently fol- 
lowed, until, by a faithful devotion to the wants and whims of customers, by 
a conscientious adhesion to the honesty as well as the policy of commercial 
integrity through panic and prosperity, this business has grown to be the 
largest of its kind in the United States. The equipment is of the most 
elaborate and varied character. New founts of type are continually being 
purchased, and the latest devices for the perfection of press-work are all 
incorporated. The firm have a larger number than any other establishment 
of costly and intricate machines for the production of artistic work ; and 
few firms have become more widely known throughout the country. 

The " Frankhn Buildings," which they occupy, are among the most con- 
spicuous of the prominent buildings in the rebuilt "burnt district." They 
are built in a superior manner, of Nova-Scotia stone, have a frontage of loo 
feet upon each street, and a floor-surface of half an acre on each of the six- 
stories and basement. Part of the street-floor is occupied by the offices of 
the Potter Lovell Company, described on another page. Under the side- 
walks are large fire-proof vaults, heated by steam and lighted by gas, for 
the storage of electrotype and stereotype plates, engravings, cuts, and dies. 
In these buildings is performed every part of the art of book-making, — 
composition, electrotyping, press-work, ruling, paging, folding, stitching, and 
every kind of binding. That very important factor in a perfect book — 
proof-reading — receives especial attention at the hands of tliis firm. In 
fact, so favorably known is this department for accuracy, erudition, and 
fidelity to the genius of the author, that publishers who have their printing 
done elsewhere call upon Rand, Avery, & Co., for the skilled and faithful 
work of their proof-readers. Another very important feature of this estab- 
lishment has been the railroad department. This grew so rapidly, and 
demanded such an increase of facilities, that the firm on the ist of January, 
1883, set apart a certain portion of their machinery especially adapted for 



374' KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 

this work, and incorporated the same under the title of the Rand Avery 
Supply Co. This simplifies the somewhat complicated previous union of 
the book, job, and railroad business, allowing the railroad department, under 
proper management, still to furnish the vast amount of tickets and advertis- 
ing matter called for by all the New-England and many of the foreign rail- 
roads of the country, and permitting the old business of its founders to run 
in its original channel. There is not a department of bank, insurance, 
commercial, or corporation business, that has not received from this firm 
evidences of their skill and artistic taste. Nor is their work confined to 
Boston alone, or even to New England. They do a very extensive book- 
work for the leading New York publishers ; and their perfected swift- 
revolving presses have rolled off many a noted work bearing the imprint 
of leading American publishers. In fact, glanced at from any quarter, the 
noble work of Rand, Avery, & Co. impresses one with the fact that they 
have taken diligent heed to that most practical advice of their predecessor 
Franklin : " Drive thy business ; let not that drive thee." The latest 
movement of this concern is the establishment of the Chautauqua Press, in 
connection with the great and growing Chautauqua movement, whereby the 
books to be used in the various departments of that wonderful people's 
university are to be manufactured, thus combining the printing and publish- 
ing under one management. 

Rockwell & Churchill have won a leading position in the printing-trade. 
Originally established at the corner of Washington and Water Streets, their 
increasing business soon demanded more room; and in 1875 the building 
on Arch Street, which they now occupy, was erected from plans prepared by 
them. It is admirably adapted to the wants of the modern printing-office. 
In the basement are the fire-proof safes for the storage of plates ; in the 
second story, the counting-room and the job-composition room; in the third 
story are the job-presses, dry-pressing room, and stationary-stock room ; in 
the fourth and fifth stories, the presses for book, pamphlet, and cut work; 
and the annex of two stories of an adjoining building, added in 1882, is 
occupied by the department of composition of books and pamphlets. The 
character of the business transacted by this firm covers a wide range, — 
from the smallest job required by the trader to the largest and most difficult 
classes of book-work. They have lately given particular attention to the 
production of illustrated magazines, library-catalogues, and other fine work, — 
which demand special accuracy of typographical preparation, and perfection 
of press-work, — and in this line have achieved a marked success. In the 
line of job-printing their productions are conspicuous for novelty and 
attractiveness. The house has an established reputation for enterprise, 
progress, and good taste, which it appears well able to sustain, and to in- 
crease from year to year. 



KING'S HANDBOOR' OF BOSTON. 375 

The Boston Gaslight Company was incorporated in 1822. The first 
president was Bryant P. Tilden ; and among the stockholders were Charles 
P. Curtis, John C. Gray, Francis C. Gray, Horace Gray, Patrick T. Jackson, 
William Prescott, Franklin Dexter, and Nathan Hale. In 1872 a consider- 
able tract of land was purchased at Commercial Point. In 1883 ground was 
broken there for the erection of works for the manufacture of gas, in addi- 
tion to the supply from the North End. The new works have been planned 
on a large scale, with a view to a symmetrical enlargement from time to time, 
Henry Robinson's successors as president were Samuel Atkins Eliot and 
John Amory Lowell. As mayor of the city, Mr. Eliot left a reputation sur- 
passed by none. As sole trustee of the Lowell Lecture Fund, Mr. Lowell 
impressed himself on the community to an extent which few other men have 
done. The present president is Mr. Jamss L. Little. The treasurer is Mr. 
William W. Greenough, and the secretary is Mr Charles C. Smith. Both 
Mr. Greenough and Mr. Smith have been officers of the corporation for up- 
ward of thirty years. The capital of the company is $2,500,000, divided into 
shares of a par value of $ 500 each. 

Bradstreet's Mercantile Agency occupies for its Boston business the 
commodious, spacious, and elegant offices at 100 Franklin Street, corner of 
Devonshire. The name and purpose of this organization are familiar to mer- 
chants, manufacturers, and bankers throughout the civilized world. It was 
established in 1849 by J. M. Bradstreet, who soon after admitted his son 
under the firm-style of J. M. Bradstreet & Son. In 1863 the senior died; 
but, by special act of the Legislature of the State of New York, the style 
remained the same until April, 1876, when it was incorporated. In August 
of the same year the business was purchased by the present stockholders, 
and has since that time been conducted by The Bradstreet Company. It has 
been from its inception noted for enterprise and progressiveness, and, 
under the present management especially, has made rapid strides toward 
perfection by the adoption of a system and discipline excelled by no cor- 
poration extant, and being equivalent to that of the strictest military organ- 
ization. Having no entangling alliances, owning and controlling its vast 
business in America, Europe, Australasia, and the Hawaiian Islands, it 
stands before the commercial world to-day as the best exponent of a system 
which the wonderful development of intercommunication and the changed 
relation of business interests have made a necessity. This company also 
publish the w^known journal, "Bradstreet's," which has become an ac- 
knowledged authority on all subjects connected with trade, finance, and 
public economy. The information and statistics presented in this paper, 
and particularly the reports of the condition of business, the growth, 
maturity, and volume of the leading cereals, are distinctively its own, and 
are eagerly sought for and copied by the better class of journals. 



376 



KING'S HANDBOOK OF BOSTON. 



Warren S. Dame, O. H. P. Stoddard, and Ralph M. Kendall, all of whom 
have been connected with the business for a long series of years. 

John & James Dobson, whose carpet-warehouse occupies the whole of 

the five-story stone-front building, Nos. 525 and 527 Washington Street, are 

the largest carpet-manufacturers in the world. Their immense manufactory 

at the Falls of Schuylkill, Penn., gives employment to 2,500 persons, man- 

_ _ A ufacturing daily, on an average, about 

4=5^-—^^ \ -'j^^ 25,000 pounds of wool into carpets of 

-'^^^^ -r^"^-^^ ~ a?:SiH every grade, from the finest Moquets 

and Wiltons down to the commonest 
ingrains. They keep a large corps of 
designers constantly at work producing 
new patterns and designs ; and thus 
with every season they are able to fur- 
nish rich and handsome carpets, always 
in the newest styles. They are the only 
manufacturers in the world who can fur- 
nish a retail carpet-establishment com- 
plete with the productions of their own 
looms. At the World's Exposition at 
Philadelphia in 1876, and at many fairs 
and exhibitions, they have been awarded 
the premiums. Their manufactures, 
amounting to several million dollars 
yearly, are sold throughout this country. 
Their business has grown to such an 
extent that they have opened large 
wholesale and retail houses in New 
York, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, and Bos- 
ton. The house in this city is one of 
the largest, neatest, and best-equipped 
in the carpet trade in Boston; and the 
stock it contains is as choice and com- 
plete as that of any house in this line 
John Ik James Dobson, Washington St. jn the United States, including, as it 
does, a great variety of carpetings in all grades, from the simplest mattings 
for summer use, to the richest and most splendid Wiltons and Axminsters. 
It was opened by, and is still under the management of, Herman S. Judkins, 
who has had many years' experience, and who is well known to the carpet- 
trade and to individual buyers of good carpets. It is his invariable rule to 
gratify all his customers, and so to treat them that they will be his constant 
patrons ; always being satisfied that so far as quality, prices, terms, and 
accommodations are concerned, they cannot do better than they can through 
him as the representative of the great manufactory of John & James Dobson. 





JOHN &JAMES DOBSON] 

m 




INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAGE 

Adams Nervine Asylum 240 

Adams, Samuel, statue of 118 

Advertiser, the Boston 300 

American House 68 

Andrew, Gov., statue of 109 

Andros a Prisoner 9 

Arlington-street Church 175 

Arlington Street, opposite the Public Garden, 30 

Army and Navy Monument in 

Army and Navy Monument, Charlestown . 109 

Art Club 132 

Baldwin-place Home for Little Wanderers . 215 

Baptist Church, First 189 

Bell (Wm. G.) & Co 336 

Beacon, Beacon Hill 6 

Blackstone-square Fountain 105 

Boston, First House in 6 

Boston and Albany Railroad Depot .... 42 
Boston and Lowell Railroad Depot .... 45 
Boston and Maine Railroad Depot .... 49 
Boston and Providence Railroad Depot . . 40 

Boston Art Club 132 

Boston Athenaeum 124 

Boston Belting Company 333 

Boston Ciiy Hospital 227 

Boston Common loi 

Boston Dispensary 232 

Boston English-High and I>atin School . . 153 

Boston Fire of 1872 19 

Boston Laiin-School, the old 152 

Boston Post Building 303 

Boston Public Library 123 

Boston Rubber Shoe Co., Maiden .... 325 
Boston Rubber Shoe Co., Melrose .... 326 
Boston Society of Natural History . . . .134 

Boston Transcript building 302 

Boston University 147 

Boston University School of Medicine . . . 149 

Boston Water-Works 79 

Boston Yacht-Club House, City Point . . . 262 

Bowdoin-square Baptist Church 192 

Boylston Market 317 

Brewer Fountain loi 

Brown (Joseph T.) & Co 345 

Bunker-hill Monument 109 

Burnt District 19 

Bussey Institution, Jamaica Plain .... 141 

Cathedral of the Holy Cross 183 

Central Burying-ground loi 

Central Church 177 

Central Club 259 



Central Cong. Church, Jamaica Plain . . .181 

Charily Building and Temporary Home . . 207 

Charles-river Bridge, Newton 79 

Charlestown Soldiers' Monument .... 109 

Chauncy-hall School 157 

Chester-square Fountain 113 

Chestnut-hill Reservoir 79 

Children's Hospital 229 

Children's Mission 213 

Christ Church 172 

Church of the Advent, new 188 

Church of the Unity 194 

City Hall 75 

City Hospital 227 

Ck.flin Guards 19 

Club-houses 259 

Coasting on Boston Common loi 

Commonwealth Avenue 32 

Congregational House 201 

Consumptives' Home, Grove Hall .... 230 

Court House 85 

Custom House 92 

Deer Park loi 

Disciples, Church of the 177 

Discoverers, The 5 

Dobson, John & James 376 

Dorchester Heights ar.d the harbor .... 11 

Dorchester Second-Parish Meeting-Hcuse . 193 

Dorchester soldiers' monument 113 

Dudley-street Baptist Church, Highlands . . 185 

Emancipation statue 119 

Equitable Life-Assurance Society's building . 277 

Ether Monument 103 

Everett statue 103 

Fairbanks, Brown, & Co 344 

Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market .... 316 

First Baptist Church 189 

First Church 167 

First house in Boston 6 

First meeting-house in Boston 167 

Forbes Lithographic Company 371 

Forest-hills Cemetery 245 

Fountain, Union Square, 113; Chester Square, 

113; Sullivan Square 113 

Franklin's birthplace 10 

Franklin, statue of 109 

Frog Pond, Boston Common 99 

Frost & Adams 366, 367 

Gate-house,' Chestnut Hill 69 

Gate-house, Parker Hill 69 

Gateway to Granary Burying-ground . . . 242 

377 



378 



INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS, 



PAGE 

German Lutheran Trinity Church .... i8i 

Girls' High School . i55 

Glover, Gen. John, statue of 109 

Great Fire 19 

Hamilton, Alexander, statue of 109 

Hancock's House 16 

Harvard Dental School 142 

Harvard Medical School 143 

Harvard Monument 113 

Hogg, Brown, & Taylor 348 

Holiis-street Church 177 

Home for Aged Men 212 

Home for Aged Women 211 

Horticultural Hall 254 

Hotel Brunswick 63 

Hotel Vendome 61 

House of the Angel Guardian 216 

Howard Watch and Clock Co 347 

Ilsley (D. P.) & Co 347 

Jones, McDuffee, & Slratton 349 

Julien's 23 

King's Chapel 171 

Lafayette's lodgings 14 

Lake Hibiscus, Forest-Hills Cemetery . . . 245 

Lewando's Dye-House 356 

Liberty Tree 23 

Lothrop & Co.'s (D.) Building 361 

Macullar, Parker, & Company 331 

Macullar, Parker, & Co's Hawley-st. Front . 332 
Main Entrance, Forest-Hills Cemetery . . 245 

Masonic Temple 264 

Mass. Bicycle Club House 269 

Mass. Charitable Eye and Ear Infirrnary . . 233 
Mass. Charitable Mechanic Association . . 325 
Massachusetts General Hospital . . . . . 224 
Massachusetts Homceopathic Hospital . . .149 
Massachusetts Institute of Technology . . 150 

Mather Tomb, Copp's Hill 243 

Merchants' Bu.lding 323 

Merchants' Exchange 319 

Monument and fountains 113 

Monuments and statues in 

Mount- Vernon Church 196 

Museum of Fine Arts . 129 

Mutual Life-insurance Building 276 

Navy Yard 57 

New-England Conservatory of Music . . .159 
New-Englani Histoiic-Genealogical Society . 126 
N.E. Manufacturers' and Mechanics' Inst. . 327 
N. E. Mutual Life-Insurance Building, Front- 
ispiece 273 

Odd Fellows' Hall 265 

Old Colony Railroad Depot 47 

Old Elm enclosure, Boston Common . . . loi 

Old Feather Store 23 

Old South Church, New 169 

Old South Meeting-House 168 

Old State House 89 

Organ, The Great . 252 

Orphans, Roman-Catholic Home for ... 214 

Paige's John C, Agency 281 

Palmer, Bachelder, & Co 352 

Parker House 65 

Park-street Church 179 

Park-street gate, Boston Common . . . . loi 



PAGE 

Partridge (Horace) & Co 355 

Perkins Institution 163 

Pierce (S. S.) & Co., opposite page . , . 354 
Post-Office and Sub-Treas. building, opposite 

Frontispiece. 
Prang (L.) & Company's Works .... 371 

Prescott, Col. William, statue of 119 

Probate Office 85 

Protestant Episcopal Theological School . .165 
Public Garden, from Arlington Street . . . 103 
Public Garden, from Boylston Street . . . 104 

Public Library 123 

Quarrel between Winthrop and Dudley . . 7 

Quincy, Josiah, statue of 119 

Rand, Avery, & Co 373 

Revere House 69 

Reversible Collar Company's Works . . . 342 

Richardson, Hill, & Co.'s 288 

Rockwell & Churchill, opposite page . . . 374 

St. Paul's Church 176 

Seal of Boston Frontispiece. 

Seal of Massachusetts .... Frontispiece. 

Seamen's Bethel 219 

Second Universalist Church 195 

Shawmut Congregational Church 198 

Simmons Building 288 

Soldiers' monument, Forest-Hills Cemetery . 245 

Somerset Club-House 257 

South Congregational Church 177 

Speaker's desk 125 

Springer Bros 350 

Squire (John P.) & Company's Works , . 335 

State House 87 

State Street 89 

Suffolk Club 259 

Suffolk-county Jail 85 

Sullivan-square Fountain ....... 113 

Sumner, Charles, statue of 120 

Sumner's house 20 

Temple Club 259 

Tremont-street mall, Boston Common . . . loi 
Tremont-street Methodist Church .... ic6 

Tremont Temple 253 

Triangular Warehouse 23 

Trinity Church 173 

Turnhalle 263 

Union Building 288 

Union Boat Club 259 

Union Club 259 

Union-square Fountain 113 

United-States Hotel 67 

Venus statue, Pu :lic Garden 103 

Veterinary Hospital 237 

Waban Bridge, Needham 79 

Washington's lodgings ....... 13 

Washington's statue 103 

Webster's Home, site of 13 

Wellesley College, Wellesley 145 

Wesleyan Association building 202 

Williams & Everett's art gallery . . . . . 365 
Winchester Home for Aged Women . . . .210 

Winter Street, Ancient 23 

Winthrop, Gov. John, statue of 119 

Young Men's Christian Association . . . 204 
Young Men's £!hristian Union 203 



INDEX TO TEXT. 



Accidents, Notable, i8. 

Ace of Clubs, 261. 

Actors' Clubs, 261. 

Adams House, 66. 

Adams, Edward A., 55. 

Adams, Nehemiah, 199. 

Adams (Sam) statue, 118. 

Adams Nervine Asylum, 239. 

Adath Israel, Temple, 178. 

Advent Church, 186. 

Advent, Church of the, 187. 

Advertiser, the Daily, 300, 301. 

Agricultural School, 141. 

Alexander Hamilton statue, 107. 

Alexis, Grand Duke, 17. 

Allan Line of steamships, 55. 

Allen, Walter, 301. 

Almshouse for girls, Deer Island, 208. 

Almshouse for male paupers, 208. 

Almshouses, 208. 

American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 133. 

American Architect, 360. 

American Bank-note Co., 274. 

American Board, The, 201. 

American College and Education Society, 160, 201. 

American Congregational Association, 201. 

American Guide-Books, 330. 

American House, 68, 321. 

American Insurance Co., 279, 280. 

American Library Association, 161. 

American Loan and Trust Co., 292. 

American Metric Bureau, 160. 

American Missionary Association, 201. 

American Peace Society, 201. 

American Teacher, 311. 

Americus Club, 261. 

Ames Manufacturing Co., 108. 

Anchor Line of steamships, 55. 

Ancient and Honorable Artillery Co., 266. 

Andrew, Gov. John A., 17, 18, 191. 

Andrew statue, 88, 107, 109. 

Andrews, C. H., 307. 

Angel Guardian, House of, 216. 

Antiquarian Club, 261. 

Apartment-hotels, list of prominent, 70. 

Apollo Club, 136. 

Appalachian Moimtain Club, 260. 

Appleton (D.) & Co., 363. 

Archbishop's Mansion, 182. 

Architect, The American, 360. 

Architects, Boston Society of, 268. 

Area of Boston, 25. 



Aristides statue, 108. 

Arlington Club, 138. 

Arlington-street Church, 175, 176. 

Arms of the City, 37-59. 

Army and Navy Monument, no. 

Arnold Arboretum, 96, 141. 

Art and Science, 127. 

Art Club, Boston, 132. 

Art Club Library, 127. 

Arteries of the City, 27-36. 

Arthur, President, 24. 

Art Libraries, 127. 

Art School, 158. 

Associated Charities, Charity Building, 208. 

Association for Destitute Catholic Children, 214. 

Association Hall, 255. 

Asylums, 223. 

Athenseum, Boston, 122-124, 133- 

Athletic Clubs, 263. 

Atkins, George D., 352. 

Atlantic Avenue, 33. 

Atlantic Monthly, 22, 62. 

Atlas National Bank, r.87. 

Austin Farm, West Roxbury, 208. 

Australian packets, 54. 

Azoreans, 206. 

Babyland, 360. 

Back-bay District, 25, 29-31. 

Back-bay Park, 95. 

Backbone of the City, 329-376. 

Bailey, E. C, 307. 

Baldwin-place Home for Little Wanderers, 215. 

Ball, Thomas, 73, 88, 117. 

Ballou, Hosea, 195. 

Ballou, Maturin M., 309. 

Bangor steamships, 56. 

Bankers and brokers, list of, 296. 

Banks, 285. 

Banks Club, 270. 

Baptist Church, First, 190. 

Baptist Social Union, 253. 

Baptist societies, offices of, 253. 

Barnes & Dunklee, 64. 

Barrows, Samuel J., 180. 

Bartlett, C. L. & Co., 55. 

Bartol, C. A., 186. 

Bates, Arlo, 311. 

Bath-houses, public, 77. 

Beacon-hill reservoir, 6, 8i. 

Beacon, the, 6, 8. 

Beacon Society, 268. 



38o 



INDEX TO TEXT, 



Beckman, Joseph H., 64. 

Beethoven statue, 252. 

Bell (Wm. G.) & Co., 336. 

Belmont Square, 105. 

Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, 267. 

Benevolent organizations, 207. 

Benjamin Franklin statue, 73, 108. 

Berkeley-street Church, 192. 

Bethel, 220. 

Bethesda Society, 216. 

Bicknell's Educational Journals, 166, 311. 

Bijou Theatre, 250. 

Bird Club, 270. 

Blackstone Market, 318. 

Blackstone Square, 104. 

Blaxton, Rev. William, 5. 

Blind, School for the, 162. 

Board of Health, 223. 

Board of Trade, The Boston, 318, 319. 

Boat-Clubs, 261. 

Boffin's Bower, 220. 

Bones of the City, 241-247. 

Book-trade, 297. 

Boston and Albany Railroad, 37, 38, 41-44. 

Boston and Bangor steamships, 56. 

Boston and Lowell Railroad, 38, 43, 53. 

Boston and Maine Railroad, 49, 50. 

Boston and Providence Railroad, 38, 40, a.i. 

Boston Asylum and Farm-school for Indigent 

Boys, 166. 
Boston Athenaium, 122-124, 133. 
Boston Belting Co., 333. 
Boston Base -ball Association, 262. 
Boston Book Bulletin, 332. 
Boston Chess Club, 262. 
Boston City Hospital, 226. 
Boston Clearing-house Association, 294. 
Boston Club, 270. 
Boston College, 148, 184. 
Boston Common, 99, no. 
Boston, Concord, and Montreal Railroad, 43. 
Boston Dispensary, 231. 
Boston Druggists' Association, 239. 
Boston Female Asylum, 221. 
Boston Fire-Underwriters' Union, 279. 
Bostonian Society, 261. 
Boston Journal, 304, 305. 
Boston Latin-School Association, 152, 268. 
Boston Library Society, 127. 
Bo. ton Lunatic Hospital, 231. 
Boston Lying-in Hospital, 231. 
Boston Marine Insurance Company, 282. 

Boston Marine Society, 326. 

Boston Massacre, 10, 92, 168. 

Boston Medical Library, 125. 

Boston Memorial Association, 268. 

Boston Microscopical Society, 239. 

Boston Museum of Fine Arts, 128. 

Boston Music Hall, 252. 

l>oslon mutual fire and marine ins. co.'s, 284. 

Boston National Bank, 287. 

Boston News-Letter, 298. 

Boston North-End Mission, 222. 

Boston Police Relief Association, 222. 

Boston Port and Seamen's-Aid Society, 219. 

Boston Post, 303. 

Boston Press Club, 260. 

Boston Protective Department, 78. 

Boston Provident Asso., Charity Building, 209. 

Boston Public Library, 121, 267. 

Boston Public Schools, 151-155. 

Boston, Revere Beach, and Lynn Railroad, 51. 

Boston Roller-skating Rink, 251. 



Boston Safe-Deposit Vaults, 290. 

Boston School Regiment, 266. 

Boston Seaman's Friend Society, 220. 

Boston Sewing Circle, Charity Building, 219. 

Boston, Sketch of the History of, 5-27. 

Boston Society for Medical Improvement, 238. 

Boston Society for Medical Observation, 238. 

Boston Society of Architects, 268. 

Boston Society of Decorative Art, 133. 

Boston Society of Natural History, 127, 133. 

Boston Stock Exchange, 294. 

Boston Symphony Orchestra, 137. 

Boston Tea Party, 11, 53, 168. 

Boston Tennis Club, 260. 

Boston Theatre, 247, 248. 

Boston Theological Seminary, 146. 

Boston Turnverein, 263. 

Boston University, 145-147. 

Boston University Law School, 146. 

Boston University School of Medicine, 146, 232. 

Boston Water-Power Co., 30, 131. 

Boston Yacht Club, 261. 

Boston Young Men's Christian Association, 203. 

Boston Young Men's Christian Union, 202. 

Bowditch, Nathaniel, 272. 

Bowdoin Square, 27. 

Bowdoin-square Baptist Church, 192. 

Boylstoa Bridge, 97. 

Boylston Club, 136. 

Boylston Market, 317, 318. 

Boylston Medical Society of Harvard Univ., 238. 

Boylston Museum, 251. 

Boylston, Ward N., 317. 

Bradstreet's Improved Mercantile Agency, 314. 

" Bradstreet's "journal, 314. 

Brain of. the City, 139-167. 

Branch libraries, public, 122. 

Brewer Fountain, 99. 

Bridewell, 256. 

Bridge from West Chester Park to Cambridge, 

proposed, 31. 
Bridges in and around Boston, 12, 15, 34. 
Brighton district, principal drives, 34. 
Brighton road, 29. 
Brighton soldiers' monument, 117. 
Brookline Reservoir, 80. 
Brooks, Phillips, 175. 
Brothers of Charity, 216. 
Brown (Joseph T.) & Co., 345. 
Brunswick, Hotel, 21, 22, 24, 60-63. 
Buckingham, Joseph T., 311. 
Budget, Sunday, 311. 
Bumstead Hall, 252. 
Bunker-hill centennial celebration, 20. 
Bunker-hill Monument, 114. 
Bureau of Credits, 281. 
Bureau of Debts and Debtors, 281. 
Burns Riot, 16. 
Burying-grounds, 241-247. 
Bussey Institution, 141. 
Bussey, Benjamin, 141, 176. 

Cadets, 266. 

Cafes, 71. 

Calvary Cemetery, 244. 

Capen, Elmer H., 148. 

Carney Hospital, 228. 

Carpets, 349. 

Castle Island, 94, 97. 

Cathedral of the Holy Cross, 181-183. 

Catholic Apostolic Church, 185. 

Catholic cemeteries, 244, 246. 

Catholic schools and convents, 164. 



INDEX TO TEXT. 



38: 



Cecilia Society, 136. 

Cemeteries in the city proper, 241. 

Central Burying-ground, 100, 242. 

Central Charity Bureau and Temporary Home, 

77. 207. 
Central Church, 179. 
Central Club, 258. 

Central Cong. Church, Jamaica Plain, 180. 
Central Lunch Club, 267. 
Central Massachusetts Railroad, 44. 
Central Square, 105. 
Central Wharf, 52. 
Centry Street, 256. 
Channing Home, 231. 
Channing, \V. E., 175. 
Charitable Irish Society, 218. 
Charitable organizations, 207. 
Charity Building, 207. 
Charity, Sisters of, 215, 228, 230. 
Charles-river Embankment, 96, 97. 
Charles-River Railroad, 36. 
Charles-street Jail, 93. 
Charles Sumner statue, 117. 
Charlestown, 5. 
Charlestown Almshouse, 208. 
Charlestown Burial-ground, 243. 
Charlestown Dispensary, 252. 
Charlestown District, Parks in, 106. 
Charlestown, Princioal avenues in, 33. 
Charlestown soldiers' and sailors' monument, 115. 
Chauncy-hall School, 157, 266. 
Chautauqua Press, 374. 
Chester Square, 31, 104. 
Chestnut-hill reservoir, 80, 96, 106 
Children's Friend Society, 220. 
Children's Home, Home for Aged Females, 212. 
Children's Hospital, 229. 
Children's Mission to Children of the Destitute, 

213. 
Children's Sea-shore Home, 230. 
Chimes, 171, 176. 

Christ Church, Salem Street, 171. * 
Christian Register, the, 180. 
Christian Scientists, 236. 

Churches in Boston, Denominational list of, 205. 
Church Green, 321. 

Church Home for Orphans and Destitute, 214. 
Church of the Advent, 187. 
Church of the Advent, The new, 187, 188. 
Church of the Disciples, 191. 
Church of the Immaculate Conception, 184. 
Church of the Messiah, 200. 
Church of the Unity, 194. 
City government of Boston, 14, 76. 
City Hall, 73-77, 108, 117, 152. 
City Hospital, 226. 
City Missionary Society, 222. 
City ofificials, 74. 
City- Point Park, 96, 97. 
City Square, 106. 
Civil Service Reform Club, 260. 
Civil War, 16. 
Clapp, Otis, & Son, 357. 
Clapp, W. W., 300, 301, 305, 310. 
Clarke, James P'reeman, 191. 
Classical schools, private, 164. 
Clement, Edward H.,282. 
Clubs in Boston, 257. 
Clyde Park, 270. 
Cochituate Lake, 80. 

Cochituate water introduced, 15, 80, 102. 
Codman, Dr. John, 193. 
Codman Hall, 256. 



Coffee-houses, 72. 

Coggswell Fountain, 99. 

Coliseum, 17. 

College of Agriculture, of Boston University, 

College of Music, of Boston University, 145. 

Colleges, etc., 139. 

Collins, Jennie, 220. 

Columbus-avenue Universalist Church, 195, 196. 

Columbus statue, 108. 

Commerce of Boston, 52. 

Commercial Bulletin, Tt;e Boston, 312. 

Commercial Club, 269. 

Commercial Colleges, 164. 

Commercial Exchange, The Boston, 320. 

Common, Boston, 99, loo. 

Commonwealth Avenue, 29, 31, 59, 60, 190. 

Commonwealth, Boston, 313. 

Concord Hall, 256. 

Congregational House, 201, 257. 

Congregationalist, the, 201. 

Congrepational Library, 126. 

Congregational Publishing Society, 201. 

Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Co., 276. 

Conservatory of Music, 158, 159. 

Consumptives' Home, 230. 

Continental Clothing House, 22. 

Convalescent Cottage, 225, 229. 

Convents, 164. 

Conway, M.D., 313. 

Co-operative Society of Visitors among Poor, 

221. 
Copp's-hill Burying-ground, 242. 
Correctional institutions, 94. 
Country Club, 270. 
County Court House, 93. 
Courant, 298. 
Courier, The Boston, 311. 
Courtney, F., 176. 
Crawford House, 70. 
Criminals, noteworthy, 16, 18, 19. 
Cunard Line of steamships, 15, 53, 54. 
Curtis Hall, Jamaica Plain, 256. 
Custom House, 92. 
Cyclorama of Gettysburg, 268. 

Dame, Stoddard, & Kendall, 342. 

Deaf, School for the, 166. 

Debt of Boston, 26. 

Decorative Art, Boston Society of, 133. 

Deeds, Registry of, 94. 

Dental school, 142, 

Denton, Eben, 342. 

Derby & Kilmer Desk Co., 337. 

Devens, Gen., 21, 22. 

Dexter, Hon. Samuel, 15. 

Diet-kitchens, 231. 

Dining-cliibs, 270. 

Directors for public institutions, 76, 208. 

Disabled soldiers and sailors. Aid to, 211. 

Discharged Convicts, Society for aiding, 218. 

Dispensaries, 231, 233. 

Dispensary for Diseases of Children, 233. 

Dispensary for Diseases of Women, 233. 

Dispensary, The Boston, 231. 

Dispensary, The Charlestov/n, 232. 

Dispensary, The Roxbury, 232. 

Dobson, John 6t James, 376. 

Dock Square, 315. 

Dorchester Cemetery, 246. 

Dorchester district. Interesting features of, 33, 34, 

180, 193. 
Dorchester, First- Parish Church, 180. 



382 



INDEX TO TEXT. 



Dorchester Heights, 12. 

Dorchester Medical Club, 239. 

Dorchester, Parks in, 106. 

Dorchester, Second-Parish Church, 193. 

Dorchester soldiers' monument, 1 15. 

Doric Hall, State House, 88. 

Draft Riot, 16. 

Drama in Boston, 247. 

Druggists' Association, The Boston, 239. 

Dudley-street Baptist Church, 185. 

Dudley-street Opera-house, 251. 

Dudley, Thomas, 6. 

Duelling, 10, I02. 

Duryea, J. T., 179. 

Dwight's Journal of Music, 135. 

Eagle Hill, 81. 

East Boston, Principal thoroughfares in, 33. 

East-Boston reservoir, 81. 

East Boston, Squares in, 105. 

Eastern Division B. & M. Railroad, 49. 

Educational institutions, 139. 

Educational periodicals, 166. 

Education, bi-monthly magazine, 166. 

Electric light introduced, 22. 

Elevated-railroad system, 36. 

Eliot, Charles W., 140. 

Eliot School, 156. 

Eliot's grave, 246. 

Elks, 267. 

Ellis, Dr. George E., 24. 

Emancipation Group, 118. 

Embargo, 13. 

Emerson School, 156. 

Emigrant Aid Society, 218. 

English-High and Latin School, 152, 

Episcopal Theological School, 163. 

Equitable Building, 277. 

Equitable Life-Assurance Soc. of N. Y., 277. 

Ether monument, 110. 

Evangelical Advent Church, 186. 

Evening High School, 164. 

Everett, Edward, 190. 

Everett National Bank, 274. 

Everett statue, 107. 

Exports, 53. 

Eye and Ear Infirmary, 233. 

Fairbanks, Brown, & Co., 343. 

Faith-Cure, 236. 

Fall-River Line steamers, 47. 

Faneuil Hall, 80, 315. 

I'aneuil-hall Klarket, The new, 67, 315. 

Farm School, 166. 

" Father Taylor's" Chapel, 220. 

Federal-street Theatre, 247. 

Fellowes Athenaeum, 122. 

Ferries, 15. 

Financial Institittions, The, 285-296. 

Fire-alarm telegraph, 76. 

Fire and marine insurance, 278. 

Fire department, 77. 

Fires, 8, 15, 18, 24. 

First bank in America, 285. 

First Baptist Church, 190. 

First l^)rigade, 266. 

First Church, 167. 

First Cong. Society of Jamaica Plain, 196. 

First Corps of Cadets, 266. 

First meeting-house in Boston, 167. 

First newspaper, 8, 297. 

First settler in Boston, 5, 27. 

First Spiritual Temple, 178. 



First tavern in Boston, 59. 

First theatres in Boston, 12. 

Fish Bureau, The Boston, 320. 

Fitchburg Railroad, 48, 49, 53. 

Fitz, Eustace C, 319. 

FlagstafifHill, Boston Common, no. 

Forbes Lithograph ALinufacturing Co., 369. 

Forest-hills Cemetery, 116, 243. 

Fort Independence, 94. 

Fort Warren, 94. 

Fort Winthrop, 94. 

Franklin, Benjamin, 298. 

Franklin's birthplace, 8; statue, 73, 108, 

Franklin Buildings, 373. 

Franklin Square, 104. 

Free Hospital for Women, 234. 

French-flat system of dwellings, 70. 

French restaurants, 72. 

Frog Pond, 99. 

Frost & Adams, 364. 

Frost & Dearborn's restaurant, 71. 

Gannett, E. S., 176. 

Garrison's Funeral, 22. 

Gaugengigl, I. M., 368. 

General Theological Library, 127. 

Genesee-street School, 156. 

German Emigrant Aid Society, 218. 

German Lutheran Trinity Chureh, 181. 

German musical societies, 137, 138. 

Gettysburg Cyclorama, 268. 

Gilmore, P. S., 17. 

Ginn & Co., 358. 

Girls' High School, 155. 

Globe Theatre, 248, 249, 

Globe, Boston, 309, 310. 

Glover statue, 108. 

Goddard, Delanq A., 298, 301. 

Good Shepherd, House of the, 220. 

Good Times, 313. 

Gore, Gov. Christopher, 15. 

Grafton, Charles C, 187. 

Grand Army of the Republic, 265. 

Grand Junction Railroad, 39, 41, 53. 

Grant, Gen. U. S., 17, 62. 

Great Fire, 18, 82, 86, 168. 

Great Organ, 253. 

Green, Dr. Samuel A., 8, 14. 

Greene, Col. Charles G., 303. 

Grove Hall, 230. 

Guild, Curtis, 313. 

Hale, Edward Everett, 197, 301. 

Hale, Nathan, 301. 

Hall of Representatives, 88. 

Halls in Charlestown, 256. 

Halls in East Boston, 256. 

Halls, public, in and near Boston, 252-257. 

Hamilton statue, 107. 

Hancock House, The old, 16. 

Hancock, John, 12, 17. 

Handel and Haydn Society, 135. 

Hansa Steamship Company, 55. 

Harvard Dental School, 142. 

Harvard Medical School, 142. 

Harvard Monument, 114. 

Harvard Musical Association, 135, 252. 

Harvard-street Baptist Church, 194. 

Harvard University, 15, 96, 114, 139-143. 

Haskell, Daniel M., 302. 

Haskell, E. B., 307. 

Haven, Franklin, 286. 

Hawthorne Rooms, 255. 



INDEX TO TEXT. 



Z^Z 



Hawkins-Street Lodge, 208. 

Hayes, President, 22, 62. 

Haymarket Theatre, 247. 

Haynes, Tilly, 68. 

Hazewell, C. C, 306. 

Heart of the City, the, 207-223. 

Heliotype Printing Co., 360. 

Herald, the Boston, 307-309- 

Herford, Brooke, 176. 

Herrick, Samuel E., 196. 

Highland District, streets in, 33. 

Highland Street-railway Co., 35. 

High schools, 152. 

Hilliard, W. H , 353. 

Historical Sketch, 5. 

Historic-Genealogical Society, 126. 

Hogg, Brown, & Taylor, 348. 

HoHis-street Church, 176. 

Hollis, Thomas, 176. 

Holmes's (O. W.) birthday, 23. 

Holy Nativity, Sisterhood of, 187. 

Home for Aged Colored Women, 210. 

Home for Aged Females, 212. 

Home for Aged Men, 211. 

Home for Aged Poor, 209. 

Home for Aged Women, 211. 

Home for the Poor, 208. 

Home Guardian, 217. 

Homoeopathic Hospital, 226. 

Homoeopathic Medical Dispensary, 232. 

Homoeopathic Medical Society, Boston, 238. 

Homoeopathic Medical Society, Mass., 238. 

Homoepathic Pharmacy, 357. 

Hook & Hastings, 182, 184, 253. 

Hoosac Tunnel Dock and Elevator Company, 48. 

Horace Mann School for the Deaf, 164. 

Horace Mann statue, 88, 107. 

Horse-cars, 35. 

Horticultural Hall, 254. 

Hospitaller Hall, 256. 

Hospitals and dispensaries, 223. 

Hospital of the Public Institutions, 231. 

Hotel Boylston, 70. 

Hotel Brunswick, 22, 24, 60-63. 

Hotel Pelham, 70. 

Hotels and Restaurants, 59-72. 

Hotel Vendome, 59. 

House of Correction, 76, 94. 

House of Industry, 76, 94. 

House of Reformation for Girls, 76, 94. 

House of the Angel Guardian, 216. 

House of the Good Samaritan, 229. 

House of the Good Shepherd, 220. 

Hovey, William A., 302. 

Howard Athenaeum, 251. 

Howard, E. J., 319. 

Howard Watch and Clock Co., 339. 

Howells, William D., 260, 362. 

Huntmgton Avenue, 31. 

Huntington Hall, 150. 

Ilsley, D. P , & Co., 346. 

Immaculate Conception Church, no, 184. 

Imports, 53. 

Incurables' Home, 230. 

Independence Square, 105. 

Industrial Aid Society, Charity Building, 221, 

Industrial Design School, 150, 160. 

Industrial School for Girls, 217. 

Industrial Temporary Home, 211. 

Infant Asylums, 213, 230. 

Infant School and Children's Home, 214. 

Insurance companies, statistics of, 271-284 



Insurance Offices, 271-284. 
International Trust Co., 292. 
Investigator Hall, 255. 
Israelitish cemetery, 246. 

Jackson, Andrew, 15. 

Jackson Square, 106. 

Jacob Sleeper Hall, 146, 191. 

Jail, County, 93. 

Jamaica Plain, 180, 196. 

Jamaica Pond, 80. 

James, G. B., 311. 

Jennie Collins, 220. 

Jenny Lind in Boston, 16, 48. 

Jesuits, J 48, 184. 

Jewisli Cemetery, 246. 

John A. Andrew Hall, 256. 

John Glover statue, 31, 108. 

John Hancock Mutual Life-Insurance Company, 

274. 
John Winthrop statue, 120. 
Jones, McDuffee & Stration, 349. 
Journal of Education, 166. 
Journal, Boston, 304. 1 

Judkins, Herman S., 376. \ 

Juvenile magazines, 311. 

Kendall, Samuel E., 71. 

Kimball, Moses, 118. 

King's Chapel, 170, 171. 

King's Chapel Burying-ground, 241. 

Kirk, Edward N., 196. 

Knights of Honor, 264. 

Knights of Pythias, 264. 

Knights Templars, 264. 

Lacrosse Club, 263. 

Ladies' Agency, Charity Building, 221. 

Ladies' Co-operative Visiting Society, Charity 

Building, 221. 
Lafayette, 13, 14. 
Lamb Tavern, 66. 
Latin-School, the Boston, 152. 
Latin-School Association, The Boston, 268. 
Latin-School for Girls, 155. 
Lewando's Dye-House, 356. 
Leyland Line, 55. 
Liberty Tree, 10. 
Libraries, 121. 
Library Association, 161. . 
Library Journal, the, 161. 
Life-insurance in America, 272. 
Lincoln Square, 105. 
Lind, Jenny, 16, 48. 
Linene, 341. 
Literary clubs, 261. 
Literary World, The, 201. 
Little Sisters of the Poor, 209. 
Livermore, Mrs. M. A., 21. 
Long Walk, The, 92. 
Long Wharf, 52. 
Lothrop, D., & Co., 291, 359. 
Lotus Glee Club, 138. 
Lowell family, 224. 
Lowell Institute, 150, 160. 
Lowell, John A., & Co., 367. 
Lowell Square, 105. 
Lumber-Dealers' Association, 322. 
Lunatic Hospital, Boston, 231. 
Lungs of the City, 95-i2i. 
Lutheran Church, 181. 
Lying-in Hospitals, 230, 231. 
Lynn and Boston Railroad, 36. 



3^4 



INDEX TO TEXT. 



Macaroni Club, 261. 

Maculiar, Parker, & Co., 329-333. 

Madison Square, 106. 

Malbone, E. G., 15. 

" Manifesto Church," 190. 

Mann, Horace, statue, 107. 

Manufactory House, 256. 

Marcella-street Home, 208. 

Marine Park at City Point, 96, 97. 

Marine Society, The Boston, 326. 

Marine Underwriters, The Boston Board of, 326. 

Mariners' Church, 220. 

Mariners' House, 219. 

Markets, 315. 

Markets and Exchanges, 315-328. 

Mason Building, 368. 

Masonic Temple, 264. 

Massachusetts Central Railroad, 31, 44, 45. 

Mass. Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary, 233. 

Mass. Charitable Mechanic Association, 254, 323. 

Massachusetts Club, 270. 

Massachusetts College of Pharmacy, 164, 238. 

Massachusetts General Hospital, 223. 

Massachusetts Historical Society, 124. 

Massachusetts Home Missionary Society, 201. 

Massachusetts Homoeopathic Hospital, 226. 

Massachusetts Horticultural Society, 254. 

Mass. Hospital Life-Insurance Company, 272. 

Massachusetts Infant Asylum, 213. 

Mass. Institute of Technology, 148, 266. 

Mass. joint-stock fire and marine ins. co.'s, 283. 

Mass. Loan and Trust Co., of Boston, 291. 

Massachusetts Medical Society, 234. 

Massachusetts mutual fire and marine insurance 
companies, Boston, 284. 

Massachusetts Normal Art School, 158. 

Massachusetts School for Idiotic and Feeble- 
minded Youth, 166. 

Mass. Soc. for Aiding Discharged Convicts, 218. 

Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of 
Cruelty to Animals, 221. 

Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of 
Cruelty to Children, 222. 

Mather Church, 180. 

Mather Tomb, 243. 

Maiignon, Father, 244. 

Maverick House, 70. 

Mayors of Boston, list of, 14. 

McLean Asylum for the Insane, Somerville, 224. 

Means, James H., 193. 

Mechanics* Exchange, 322. 

Mechanics' Fair, 323. 

Mechanics' Hall, The new, 254. 

Medical Association, Boston, 238. 

Medical Examiner, 235. 

Medical Library Association, Boston, 125. 

Medical schools, 142, 146. 

Medical Societies, 238. 

Meeting-house Hill, 106, 115, 180. 

Meionaon, 254. 

Memorial History of Boston, 362. 

Mercantile Library Association, 267. 

Mercantile Fire and Marine Insurance Co., 280. 

Merchants' Association, The Boston, 326. 

Merchants' Club, 269. 

Merchants' Exchange and Reading-room, 318, 319. 

Merchants' National Bank, 286. 

Meredith, R. R., 199. 

Merrill, Moses, 152. 

Methodist Theological Seminary, 146. 

Metric Bureau, 160. 

Metropolitan Railroad Company, 35. 
Metropolitan Steamship Line, 56. 



Middlesex Canal, 37. 

. liddlesex Railroad Company, 36. 

Militia of Massachusetts, The, 266. 

Mill dam, The, 29. 

Mind Cure, 236. 

Mind of the City, 121-139. 

Miner, A. A., 196. 

Mining-stock Exchange, 326. 

Mission Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, 

184. 
Mission Church of St. John the Evangelist, 188. 
Montgomery Square, 105. 
Moody and Sankey, 21. 
Moon Head, 35. 
Moral Reform Society, 217. 
Morgues, the Old and the New, 235. 
Mount-Auburn Cemetery, 246. 
Mount-Benedict Cemetery, 246. 
Mount Bowdoin, 106. 
Mount-Hope Cemetery, 244. 
Mount-Hope Home, 222. 
Mount- Vernon Church, 196. 
Munson, Norman C, 30, 44. 
Museum of Arts, Institute of Technology, 148. 
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 128-132. 
Museum, the Boston, 249. 
Musical societies of Boston, 135-137. 
Music Hall, the Boston, 135, 252. 
Mutual Life Insurance Company, of N. Y., 275. 
Mystic water-works, 81, 82. 

Nassau Hall, 256. 

National Banks, Complete list of, 295. 
National Lancers, 266. 
National Peace Jubilees, The two, 17. 
National Revere Bank of Boston, 286. 
National Webster Bank, 274. 
Natural History, Society of, 127, 133. 
Natural History, Warren Museum of, 134. 
Navy Yard, 58, 86. 
Needlewoman's Friend Society, 219. 
Nervine Asylum, 239. 

N. -England Conservatory of Music, 158, 159,252. 
New-England Female Medical College, 146. 
New-England Furniture Exchange, 321, 322. 
New-England Hist, and Gen. Register, 126. 
New-England Historic-Genealogical Society, 126. 
New-Eng. Hospital for Women and Children, 228. 
New-England Manufacturers' and Mechanics' In- 
stitute, 31, 327,328. 
New-England Medical Gazette, 357. 
New-England Moral Reform Society, 217. 
New-England Mutual Life Insurance Co^, 273. 
New-England Scandinavian Benevolent Soc, 218 
New-England Trust Company, 293. 
New-England Woman's Club, 260. 
New-Jerusalem Church Society, 200. 
Newspapers, 8, 297. 

New-York and New-England Railroad, 50. 
New-Zealand Packets, 54. 
Nonotuck Silk Company, 351. 
Norfolk House, 70. 
Normal Art School, 158. 
Normal School, Boston, 155. 
Norsemen statue and fountain, proposed, 117. 
North Church, 171. 
North-End Mission, 222. 
Notre Dame Academy, 164. 
Nurses' Directory, 125. 
Nurses' Training-School, 166, 226, 228. 

Oaklantf Garden, 251. 
Ober's restaurant, 72. 



INDEX TO TEXT. 



38: 



Obstetrical Society, 239. ,>>r 

Odd Fellows' Hall, 264. 

Old Boston, Sketch of, 24. 

Old Charlestown Burial-ground, 243. 

Old Colony Railroad, 46-48, 67. 

Old Corner Bookstore, 297, 362. 

Old Elm, 100. 

Old Granary Burying-ground, 241. 

Old North Church, 191. 

Old South Church, 168-170. 

Old South Church, The new, 170. 

Old State House, 90-92. 

Organized charities, 207. 

Orphans' Home, 214. 

Orpheus Musical Society, 137. 

Osborn, Gen. F. A., 20. 

Otis, Harrison Gray, 12. 

Our Dumb Animals, 221. 

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, 184. 

Our Little Men and Women, 360. 

Our Little Ones, 292. 

Overseers of the Poor, 77. 

Paddock Elms, The, 242. 
Paige, John C, 281. 
Paine Memorial Hall, 255. 
Paint and Clay Club, 132, 133. 
Paintmgs, 320, 337, 349. 
Palmer, Bachelder, & Co., 352, 
Palmer, B. P., 290. 
Pansy, 360. 
Papanti's Hall, 256. 
Papyrus Club, 261. 
Park Commissioners, 95. 
Parker, Col. Henry G., 310. 
Parker Fraternity, 200, 255. 
Parker, Harvey D., 64. 
Parker-hill Reservoir, 81. 
Parker House, 64, 261. 
Parker-Memorial Hall, 200, 255. 
Parker, Theodore, 200. 
Park-street Church, 179. 
Park Theatre, 249. 
Parks and squares, 95. 
Parks, proposed series of, 95-98. 
Parochial schools, 164. 
Partridge (Horace) & Co., 354. 
Patriotism of Boston in the Rebellion, 16. 
Peabody Museum, 140. 

Peabody's Australia, New-Zealand, and South- 
Africa packets, 54. 
Penitent Females' Refuge and Bethesda Soc, 216. 
People's Church, 187. 

Perkins Inst, and Mass. School for Blind, 162. 
Pharmacy, College of, 164, 238. 
Philharmonic Society, 137. 
Phillips's (Wendell) Grave, 242. 
Pierce, S. S., & Co., 13, 353. 
Pierian Sodality, 135. 
Pilgrim Hall, 256. 
Pilots, 58. 

Police-department, 78. 

Police Relief Association, Charity Buildmg, 222. 
Political clubs, 270. 
Pollard, Ann, 6. 
Polk, President, 15. 
Pope Manufacturing Co., 340. 
Population of Boston, 26. 
Post, the Boston Daily, 8, 303, 304. 
Postal statistics, 86. 
Postmasters, list of, 86. • 

Post-Office, 82-86. 
Prang, L., & Co., 370. 



Prescott statue, 120. 

Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Society of. 

Prince collection, 121. 

Prince, Mayor, 21, 22. 

Prince of Wales, 16. 

Prince School, 156. 

Private charities, 207. 

Private schools, 157, 164. 

Probate Office, 93. 

Produce Exchange, The Boston, 320. 

Provident Institution for Savings, 289. 

Province House, 24, 28. 

Public Buildings, 73-95. 

Public Garden, 102, 106, 107, no, 117. 

Public Library, 121, 267. 

Public Schools, The Boston, 151-155. 

Publick Occurrences, 298. 

Pulse of the City, 223-241. 

Pulsifer, R. M., 307. 

Punchard, Edward O., 64. 

Puritan Club, 270. 



Quincy House, 70. 

Quincy, Josiah, statue, 73, no, 

Quincy Market, 73, 315, 316. 



[7, 316. 



Railroad Business of Boston, 37, 51, 52. 
Railway Clearing-House Association, 51. 
Rand, Avery, & Co., 294, 372, 373, 374. 
Raymond's School of Oratory and Elocution, 

201. • 

Record, Boston Evening, 310. 
Redemptorists, 184. 
Reed, James, 200. 

Registry of Deeds for Suffolk County, 94. 
Reservoirs, 80. 
Restaurants and cafes, 71. 
Revere Beach Railroad, 51. 
Revere House, 69, 261. 
Reversible Collar Co., 341. 
Rice, Alexander H., 14, in, 117. 
Rice School, 156. 

Richardson, Hill, & Co., 288, 289. 
Rinks, 251. 

Ritualistic churches, 187. 
Rockwell & Churchill, 374. 
Roman-Catholic Seminary, 164. 
Roxbury Burying-ground, 246. 
Roxbury Carpet Company, 201. 
Roxbury Charitable Society, 209, 232?. 
Roxbury district, parks and squares in, 105, 106. 
Roxbury Latin School, 162. 
Roxbury soldiers' monument, 116, 244. 
Rumford medals, 143. 
Russell, B , 306. 
Russell, Judge T., 18. 
Russia Wharf, 53. 
Ryan, J. W., 3n. 

Safe-deposit vaults, 290, 291. 

St. Andrew's Home, 217. 

St. Ann's Infant Asylum, 215. 

St. Augustine Cemetery, 244. 

St. Botolph Club, 258. ■ 

St. Elizabeth's Hospital, 234. 

St. James Hotel, 159. 

St. John's Church, 181. 

St. Joseph's Home, 215, 234. 

St. Luke's Home, 234. 

St. Mary's Infant Asylum, 230, 236. 

St. Paul's Church, 176. 

St. Vincent de Paul Society, 215. 

St. Vincent's Orphan Asylum, 214. 



386 



INDEX TO TEXT. 



Sailors' Home, 220. 

Salaries of city officers, 76. 

Samuel Adams statue, 118. 

Sanborn, Frank B., 313. 

Sanitary condition of Boston, 223. 

Sargent Rocks, 97. 

Saturday Club, 261. 

Saturday Evening Gazette, The, 310. 

Saturday-morning Club, 261. 

Savings banks, 289. 

Scandinavian Benevolent Society, 218. 

School, New High, 152. 

School of All Sciences of Boston University, 146 

School of Industrial Design, 151. 

School of Industrial Science, Inst. Technology, 

ISO- 
School of Mechanic Arts, Inst. Technology, 150. 
School regiment, The Boston, 266. 
Schools, 139. 
Scollay's Building, 17. 
Scollay Square, 17, 22, 35. 
Scots' Charitable Society, 217. 
Scott, Gen. W., 15. 
Seaman's Aid Society, 219. 
Seaman's Friend Society, Boston, 220. 
Seamen's Bethel, 220. 
Sea-shore Home, 230. 
Second Church, 191. 
Second Church, Dorchester district, 193. 
Second Universalis! Society, 195. 
Secret societies, 264. 
Senate Chamber, 88. 
Sewers, Public, in Boston, 35. 
Sewing Circle, The Boston, 219. 
Shawmut, 5. 

Shawmut Congregational Church, 198. 
Shaw statue, 117. 

Shipping interests of Boston, 52-58. 
Shoe and Leather Exchange, 321. 
Simmons Female College, 160. 
Sisters of Charity, 215, 228, 230. 
Sisters of Notre Dame, 154. 
Sisters of St. Francis, 234. 
Sisters of the Good Shepherd, 220. 
Skating-rinks, 251. 
Sketch Club, 133. 
Slack, Charles W., 314. 
Snow, George K., 342. 
Social Law Library, 125. 
Social Side of the City, 247-269, 
Society for Medical Improvement, Boston, 238. 
Society for Medical Improvement, Roxbury, 239. 
Society for Medical Observation, Boston, 238. 
Society of Arts, Inst, of Technology, 148. 
Society of Medical Sciences, Boston, 239. 
Society of Natural History, Boston, 60, 127, 133. 
Society of St. Vincent de Paul, 215. 
Society to Encourage Studies at Home, 161. 
Soldiers' Monument, no. 
Somerset Club, 257. 

Somerset-street Baptist Church, 190. -.^ 

Sons of Liberty, 10. '^'"V. 

Soul of the City, 167-207. 
South Boston, 12, 81, 162. 
South-Boston Flats, 53. 
South-Boston Medical Club, 239. 
South-Boston Railroad, 36. 
South-Boston reservoir, 81. 
South Boston, street-system of, 33. 
South- Boston Yacht-club, 262. 
South Congregational Church, 197. 
Spelling Reform Association, 161. 
Spinal Home, 236. 



Spiritual Temple, 178. 

Springer Bros , 350. 

Squire (John P.) & Co., 334. 

Stage Lines, 37. 

Stanwood, Edward, 301. 

State House, 6, 12, 16, 87-90, 107. 

State Library of Massachusetts, 125. 

State Mutual Life-Assurance Company, 224, 

State Street, 286. 

Statues, 106-120. 

Steam-railroads, Introduction of, 37. 

Steam-tugs, 58. 

Stevens, B. F., 273. 

Stevens, Paran, 69. 

Stock Exchange, 294. 

Street-railroads, statistics of, 36. 

Street-railway system, 35. 

Streets in modern Boston, 28-34. 

Streets in old Boston, 27, 28. 

Streets, Length and cost of, 34. 

Studies at home, 161. 

Sudbury-river water, 81. 

Suffolk Club, 258. 

Suffolk-county Jail, 93. 

Sullivan Square, 106. 

Summer-garden theatres, 251. 

Sumner, Charles, 18, 88, in, 117. 

Sumner statue, 117. 

Sunday Budget, 311. 

Sunday newspapers, 310. 

Superintendent of schools, 151. 

Supervisors of schools, 151. 

Swedenborgian Church, 200. 

Symphony concerts, 135, 137. 

Tabernacle, The, 21. 

Taft, E. A., 338. 

Tavern Club, 260. 

Taverns, 59. 

Taylor, Col. Charles H., 310. 

Technology, Institute of, 148. 

Telegraph Hill, 81. 

Temple Adath Israel, 178. 

Temple Club, 257. 

Temple, Union, 180. 

Temporary Home for the Destitute, 208, 212. 

Tennis Club, 260. 

Theatres, 12, 15, 247-251. 

Theological Libraries, 126, 127. 

Thomas Park, 105. 

Thompson's Island, 166. 

Thursday Club, 261. 

Ticknor & Co., 359. 

'I'icknor, George, 14, 121. 

Ticknor, William D., 360. 

Tompkins, Orlando, 247, 248. 

Tongue of the City, the, 297-314. 

Tourjee, Dr. Eben, 158. 

Training-school for Nurses, City Hospital, 166. 

Transcript, I'he Boston Evening, 301-303. 

Traveller, The Boston Evening, 305. 

Tremont House, 68. 

Tremont-street Methodist-Episcopal Church, 186. 

Tremont Temple, 180, 253. 

Trimountain, 5. 

Trinity Church, 172-175. 

Trust companies, complete list of, 296. 

Tufts College, 148. 

Turner-Zeitung, the, 263. 

Turnhalle, the, 256. 

Turnverein,*the Boston, 263. 

Twenty-eighth Congregational Society, 200. 

Tyler, President, 15. 



INDEX TO TEXT. 



387 



Union Athletic Club, 263. 

Union Boat-Club, 261. 

Union Church, 199. 

Union Club, 258. 

Union Freight Railway, 48. 

Union Hall, 255. 

Union Park, 104. 

Union Safe-deposit Vaults, 290. 

Union Temple Church, 180, 253. 

United-States Court House, 86, 264. 

United-States Custom House, 92. 

United-States Hotel, 67, 68. 

United-States Marine Hospital, 236. 

United-States Navy Yard, 58, 86. 

United-States Post-office and Sub-treasury, 82-85. 

Universalist Church, Second, 195. 

Universalists, 148. 

University Club, 260. 

Ursuline Convent, Burning of, 15. 

Valuation of Boston, 26. 
Vendome, The Hotel, 31, 32, 59-61. 
Vercelli's Restaurant, 72. 
Veterinary Hospital, 236. 
Visitors among the Poor, 221 

Wabash, frigate, 58. 

Wait's Hall, South Boston, 256. 

Walker Society for Medical Improvement, 239. 

Walnut-avenue Congregational Church, 197. 

Ward's description (in 1699), 8. 

Warren, Judge G. W., 22. 

Warren Line, 56. 

Warren Museum of Natural History, 134 

Warren, William, 249. 

Washington, George, 12, 17, 124. 

Washingtonian Home, 239. 

Washington Market, 318. 

Washington Park, 105. 

Washington statue, 88; equestrian statue, 106. 

Washington Village Yacht-Club, 262. 

Water, 76, 80. 

Way Egyptian Collection, 128 

Webb, Edwin B., 198. 

Webster, Daniel, 13. 

Webster statue, 107. 



Webster, Prof. John W., 16. 

Wednesday-evening Club, 261. 

Wellesley College, 144. 

Wesleyan Association building, 202. 

Wesleyan Hall, 255. 

West Chester Park, 31. 

West Church, 186. 

West Roxbury district. Streets of, 34. 

West-Roxbury Park, 96, 97. 

West-Roxbury soldiers' monuments, 116, 244. 

Wharves, 52, 53. 

White-star Line, 55. 

Whittier, John G., 23, 62. 

Whittier Machine Company, 60, 62, 254, 338. 

Wide-Awake, 311, 360. 

Wilder, Marshall P., 126. 

William Prescott statue, 120. 

Williams & Everett, 363-365. 

Williams Market, 318. 

Winchester Home for Aged Women, 210, 

Windsor Theatre, 251. 

Winslow's grave. Admiral, 244. 

Winthrop Congregational Church, 197. 

Winthrop, John, 6. 

Winthrop, Robert C, 125. 

Winthrop Square, 106. 

Winthrop statue, 120. 

Withrow, J L., 179. 

Wolcott, Col. J. W., 31,60. 

Woman's Board, The, 201. 

Woman's Christian Temperance L^nion, 22. 

Woman's Club, 260. 

Wood-Island Park, 97. 

Woodlawn Cemetery in Everett, 246. 

Worcester Square, 104. 

Worcester, Thomas, 200, 

Worthington, Roland, 305. 

Yacht-Clubs, 261. 

Young Men's Benevolent Society, 218. 

Young Men's Christian Association, Boston, 203. 

Young Men's Christian Union, Boston, 202, 255. 

Young Women's Christian Association, 205. 

Young's Hotel, 66. 

Youth's Companion, The, 312. 



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